South Medford, North Medford settle for split in tight twin bill

Published 8:58 am Tuesday, April 29, 2025

By KRIS HENRY / Rogue Valley Times

Panthers get walk-off win on Leavens hit in opener; Black Tornado cash in early in Game 2

Down to its final out with only the tying run on second base, South Medford pulled off an incredible comeback Monday night to highlight a tense baseball doubleheader against North Medford at Harry & David Field.

After the teams had combined for seven runs over the opening two innings, the Panthers and Black Tornado went above and beyond in an opening Southwest Conference affair that was settled by a two-run walk-off double from Owen Leavens in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 6-5 comeback victory.

In Game 2, North Medford scored all the runs it would need in the first inning to salvage a split with a 3-2 triumph. The Panthers put the tying run on third base in the bottom of the seventh but couldn’t recapture their Game 1 magic.

With at least one win, the Black Tornado (12-5) were able to maintain a grip on first place in the SWC standings, tied with Roseburg at 7-3 in conference play entering Saturday’s twin bill with the Indians here in Medford.

For a South Medford team fighting to get back in the SWC race, the Game 1 win was huge for the Panthers (9-8, 5-6), who find themselves only 1 ½ games back of third-place Sheldon after clearing the midway point on the schedule.

Both teams trotted out their ace senior pitchers in the opener in Dominic Daffron for North and Tristan Mallari for South. After slow starts for each, they both carried through superbly before exiting in the ninth inning.

Daffron allowed 10 hits and four runs — three earned — in 8 ⅔ innings, striking out two with no walks. Mallari finished with six hits allowed in eight innings, striking out six to help overcome six walks and four runs allowed.

The Tornado seemed primed to strike first in extra innings, but reliever Jake Lewis negated the threat of consecutive singles by Easton Curtis and Daffron in the ninth.

In the 10th inning, Colton Miller singled and Lewis was called for a balk to send him to second base. Ben Morgan got a two-strike bunt down to put the go-ahead run on third base before South Medford tapped Evan Rhoden in relief. The senior right-hander got ahead 0-2 before Cade Pettersen was able to squeeze a bunt down the third-base line to bring home Miller for a 5-4 advantage.

Keegan Painter gave his team some hope with a one-out single to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning — South Medford’s first hit in extra innings — and then was able to steal second base when a pitch by reliever Calvin Rayburn was in the dirt.

A groundout to second base by Mallari pushed Painter to third as the tying run. After a mound visit, North Medford opted to intentionally walk Rhoden to set up a force play opportunity. Courtesy runner Ryan Tucker took off for second base moments later and North’s attempt to deke a throwdown with a cutoff at shortstop didn’t lure Painter to break away from the bag, causing the Tornado to then intentionally walk Grady McQuillan to load the bases and create a force play in all situations.

That, however, didn’t come into play as Leavens ripped on 0-1 pitch over the head of Miller in left field that skipped to the fence as two runs scored to send South Medford off on a celebration frenzy near second base.

Leavens finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the opener for South, while Easton Douglas was 3-for-5 and the Panthers got two hits apiece from Painter and Rhoden.

Curtis led North Medford by going 3-for-3 with two runs, with Daffron and Miller each posting a pair of hits and Brady Patterson plating two runs.

In Game 2, Daffron jolted the Tornado to an early lead with his RBI double scoring Curtis, with Patterson driving in a run on a sacrifice fly and Miller following a Panther error with an RBI double of his own for a 3-0 advantage.

South Medford got one run back in the second inning when Tucker doubled home McQuillan, then closed the gap to 3-2 in the seventh when Leavens singled home Mallari.

With two outs and runners on the corners, reliever Cade Pettersen was able to induce a comebacker by Cooper Mitchell for the final out to keep the Panthers at bay.

Macen Baker earned the pitching victory after giving up eight hits but only one run with three walks and three strikeouts in six innings for North.

Rhoden’s day spilled over from Game 1 on the mound to a Game 2 start, where he allowed four hits and three runs — two earned — with one walk and four strikeouts in 6 ⅔ innings.

McQuillan went 3-for-4 as South Medford outhit North 10-4 in the nightcap.

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

More High School

Black Tornado tally pivotal SWC softball sweep of Panthers 

Crater’s Tayvon Kitchen crushes Oregon record in the 3,200

Crater’s Josiah Tostenson passes an Oregon legend in the mile

Crater track and cross country standout Tayvon Kitchen commits to BYU

Print Article

  • 2025 Community Choice Awards

    Best of Rogue Valley Community Choice Awards

Marketplace