Softball

North Medford went in search of a statement softball win Saturday but the Black Tornado couldn’t corner Sheldon during an 8-5 loss before weather postponed the second game of a planned Southwest Conference doubleheader.

After allowing four runs in the bottom of the third inning, the Black Tornado (2-3, 0-1 SWC) couldn’t find the right formula to recover from a 7-3 deficit to defeat the reigning Class 6A state champions.

“It was good to see them compete and not be shell-shocked,” said North Medford softball coach Chris Campbell of his team. “Overall, it seemed like a pretty great team effort. I would have liked to start conference play with a victory, but it wasn’t in the cards.”

Rainy weather did cause some uncharacteristic mishaps inside the circle, with Black Tornado pitcher Gabbi Urban charged with five earned runs and Payton Burnham tasked with three earned runs in the early innings for the Irish (4-0, 2-0).

Urban pitched six innings with six strikeouts and allowed nine hits and two walks, while Burnham had six strikeouts and four walks for the Irish before Olivia Gilhuber took over midway through the third inning. Gilhuber allowed four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

“Some balls got away that you wouldn’t normally see from high-caliber pitchers like them,” he said of the starting pitchers. “They allowed some additional hits and extra walks, it was stuff that those two don’t do normally.”

Caileigh Raines batted 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs to lead a Black Tornado offense that lost momentum at inopportune times and stranded 12 baserunners.

“We weren’t able to get some ground and fly balls across to make some scores happen,” Campbell said about the execution. “(Sheldon) just made some timely plays and we made some untimely mistakes that ended up costing some of our potential in the game.”

The Black Tornado will be thrown right back into the fire, however as the two-day North Medford Spring Break Invitational begins Monday.

“We want to play the best, so I’m excited for more quality games,” said Campbell. “We will see where we are at and where we can get better. Hopefully we can use the tournament as a measuring stick and get some victories.”

North Medford 021 200 0 — 5 6 2

Sheldon 214 100 x — 8 9 2

Urban and Lawton; Burnham, Gilhuber (4) and Pappas. W — Gilhuber. L — Urban. 2B — NM: Raines 2; S: Gallegos. 3B — S: Pappas.

Baseball

NORTH MEDFORD 5, SHELDON 2: At Eugene, Joey Newberg hit a two-run single for North Medford in the top of the sixth inning to put the finishing touches on a Southwest Conference victory.

Game 2 of the planned doubleheader had to be rescheduled due to poor weather.

Newberg hit a grounder through the left side of the infield to negotiate the two insurance runs for the Black Tornado (4-1, 1-0 SWC). The senior was set up by Jeremiah Robbins breaking a 2-all tie after Jake Payton was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Dominic Daffron went the distance for North Medford, finishing with four strikeouts and only six hits allowed by the Irish (1-3, 0-2).

North Medford 100 103 0 — 5 3 1

Sheldon 101 000 0 — 2 6 4

Daffron and Robbins; Miller, Peterson (5), Wright (6), Thomas (7) and Olson. W — Daffron. L — Peterson. 2B — NM: Willer.