South Medford outslugs Eagle Point in wild baseball battle; Knutson fans 10 to lead Panthers in softball opener

North Medford senior Dominic Daffron couldn’t have scripted a better start to the baseball season Friday in Lake Oswego.

Daffron played an instrumental role on the mound and at the plate, guiding the Black Tornado to a 5-0 victory over the Lakers with a complete-game pitching performance that also saw him generate three of his team’s seven hits in the opener.

The right-hander struck out nine in seven innings, allowing five hits and two walks. Daffron threw 66 of his 96 pitches for strikes.

Daffron also collected both of North Medford’s extra-base hits, striking for an RBI double in the fifth inning and another double during a three-run seventh inning for the Black Tornado (1-0).

Easton Curtis reached on an error in the first inning and later scored on another Lake Oswego error to give Daffron all the run support he would need on this day.

After Daffron doubled the advantage in the fifth inning, the floodgates opened in the seventh after Curtis drew a one-out walk and Daffron followed with a double. Curtis eventually scored on a wild pitch, and Daffron scored on a single by senior Macen Baker.

A third run came in when Cade Pettersen was walked with the bases loaded.

SOUTH MEDFORD 14, EAGLE POINT 7: South Medford sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven runs in a second-inning outburst, and then closed out the nonleague win with seven runs over the fourth and fifth innings combined at Lithia & Driveway Fields.

Eagle Point (1-1) scored a pair of runs in each of the first two innings to build a 4-0 lead, using an RBI triple by Sean McFall and following RBI double by Collin Stockton to open the scoring and another two-run double by Stockton in the second inning.

South Medford (1-1) then heated up in the bottom of the second, highlighted by a two-run single from Tristan Mallari and a two-run double from Grady McQuillan.

After the Eagles rallied with three runs in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game, keyed by a two-run double from Colton Pierce, the Panthers fired right back again behind a three-run double from Jedi Robertson in the bottom half of the frame.

Cooper Mitchell’s two-run double in the fifth inning helped create a cushion for South.

CASCADE CHRISTIAN 8, PHOENIX 0: Carson Willard ignited Cascade Christian’s offense with an RBI double in the second inning as the senior went 2-for-4 to lead an eight-hit attack at L&D Fields.

Andy Alvarez drove in a pair of runs for the Challengers (1-1), who broke the game open with six runs in the fourth inning. Grady Sickler also went 2-for-3 with one run for Cascade, and secured the pitching win by allowing two hits with five strikeouts and four walks in six innings on the mound.

Kaden Sousa and Chris Phillips had the lone hits for Phoenix (0-2)

Softball

SOUTH MEDFORD 4, GLENCOE 1: At Hillsboro, South Medford senior Jordan Knutson struck out 10 and allowed one hit with four walks in a season-opening victory.

Dannika Ostvik went 2-for-3 with two runs and Jayden Cote also was 2-for-3 for the Panthers (1-0), while Shelby Hillyer added an RBI double.

JESUIT 4, CRATER 1: At Grants Pass, Crater’s potent offense was limited to four hits by Jesuit junior Makena Boynay, and the Class 6A Crusaders tallied two runs in the seventh inning to pull away for the nonconference victory.

Boynay struck out eight with one walk for Jesuit (3-0), while junior pitcher Abbey Canfield gave up 10 hits in her season debut but was largely able to mitigate the damage for Crater (0-2).

Boys Tennis

ST. MARY’S 6, ASHLAND 2: St. Mary’s got singles wins from Ben Smith and Connor Gibbs and swept the doubles matches to edge Ashland, which had singles wins from Adam Shelton and Quinn Chambers.

SINGLES: Ben Smith, SM, d. Frederick Kooijman, 6-0, 6-2; Adam Shelton, Ash, d. Cyrus Oliva, 6-4, 6-7, 0-1; Quinn Chalmers, Ash, d. Case Johnston, 8-6; Connor Gibbs, SM, d. Wynter Marks-Ladd, 8-3.

DOUBLES: Sriram Dinesh-Titus Stark-Seymour, SM, d. Charlie Rogers-Elyn Barker, 6-0, 6-2; Landus Ho-Lucas Peterson, SM, d. Sayjune Park-Milo Leiserson, 6-0, 6-1; Caswell Dorcak-Henry Smith, SM, d. Mesa McKenzie-Teo Leiserson, 8-2; Bao Pham-Bennett Peterson, SM, d. Cooper Quinn-Max Hoerrmann, 8-1.

St. Mary’s 4, North Bend 0

SINGLES: Cyrus Oliva, SM, d. Isaac Adams, 6-4, 6-2; Bennett Peterson, SM, d. Myles Picatti, 6-0, 6-1; Jack Benton, SM, d. Austin Bailey, 6-0, 6-0.

DOUBLES: Bao Pham-Case Johnston, SM, d. Cameron Gaudette-Cameron Metzgus, 6-4 , 6-2.

Girls Tennis

ST. MARY’S 5, ASHLAND 3: St. Mary’s posted a sweep in doubles and used a No. 4 singles win by Anika Ali to edge Ashland at Fichtner-Mainwaring Park.

SINGLES: Veronica Miller, Ash, d. Piper Ravassipour, 6-0, 6-1; Claudia Stadtmueller, Ash, d. Mia Cabalo, 6-1, 6-1; Alice Pearson-Albano, Ash, d. Emma August, 8-0; Anika Ali, SM, d. Parker Wildman, 8-7 (3).

DOUBLES: Sydney Holdermann-Adalie Ford, SM, d. Leone Di Properzio-Thea Vogel, 6-1, 6-4; Alison Olson-Natalie Hung, SM, d. Iris Paulick-Rosetta Boney, 7-6 (3), 6-1; Aleeza Jaffar-Ryleigh Ho, SM, d. Sophia Williams-Ella White, 8-0; Callie Davol-Natalie Hiratzka, SM, d. Opal Stagg-Elliot Mallory, 8-4.

St. Mary’s 6, North Bend 0

SINGLES: Mia Cabalo, SM, d. Kamryn Van Elsberg, 6-3, 6-1; Emma August, SM, d. Becky DeGan, 6-0, 6-1; Rubaina Siyad, SM, d. Ella Warner, 6-0, 6-0.

DOUBLES: Sydney Holdermann-Alison Olson, SM, d. Olivia Smith-Grace Clark, 6-1, 6-3; Natalie Hung-Adalie Ford, SM, d. Amelia Peck-Caroline Friedrich, 6-1, 6-0; Callie Davol-Aleeza Jaffar, SM, d. Chloe Brandon-Isabelle Gaudette, 6-0, 6-1.

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at khenry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035