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Young guns carry North past Cavers Black Tornado moves into a tie for first in SOC with Panthers GRANTS PASS � Many of the North Medford High baseball players aren�t old enough to own a driver�s license, let alone vote or watch an R-rated movie. But they�re as calm as a brain surgeon when it comes to playing baseball. Junior Brent Kircher tossed a six-hitter and sophomore Dustin Butler fired a two-hit shutout as the Black Tornado opened its Southern Oregon Conference season with 6-1 and 6-0 victories over Grants Pass on Wednesday. With Butler on the mound in the second game, North Medford had four sophomores, one freshman, two juniors and three seniors in its starting lineup. "We�re a young team but these kids have been in our summer program and they know how to compete," North Medford coach Brett Wolfe said. "Plus, most of them are two- and three-sport athletes. They�ve been on a lot of playing fields." Although Kircher is North Medford�s No. 1 pitcher and did nothing to tarnish that distinction Wednesday, it was Butler who served up the eye-opening performance. The clever left-hander allowed just four baserunners in his seven innings of work and used only 81 pitches to record the shutout. "That�s one of the best games I�ve seen pitched in quite awhile," Wolfe said. "He�s got a fastball, curveball and knuckleball and today he had command of all three pitches." With Butler at his best, the Tornado scored the only run it needed in the third inning of the nightcap when Phil Ouellette singled, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on freshman Rob Folsom�s RBI single. The Tornado got an insurance run in the fourth when Devon Zupan belted a long home run to left field, then scored three more in the fifth and another in the seventh. In the opening game, Nate Olson gave Grants Pass a 1-0 lead when he homered in the bottom of the first, but North came right back to grab the lead for good on Brian Weeks� two-run blast to left center. Joe Morris and Evan McArthur each had two hits for the Tornado in the opening game. Ouellette went 3-for-6 on the day with four runs and four stolen bases. North Medford, now 7-3 overall, meets Ashland for a noon doubleheader Saturday at Miles Field. "It�s nice to win the first two (league games), but we�ve got a long ways to go and the kids know that," Wolfe said. The two losses dropped Grants Pass� season record to 7-3. FIRST GAME North Medford .................................. 020 200 2 � 6 10 0 Grants Pass ..........................................100 000 0 � 1 6 2 Kircher and Folsom; Howe, Olson (6) and Richard. W � Kircher (3-0). L � Howe (4-1); 2B � NM: Folsom, McArthur, Backstrom, Zupan; GP: Richard. HR � NM: Weeks; GP: Olson. SECOND GAME North Medford .....................................001 130 1 � 6 6 1 Grants Pass ......................................... 000 000 0 � 0 2 1 Butler and Folsom; Rettke, Draper (6) and Richard. W � Butler (3-1). L � Rettke. HR � NM: Zupan. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.