PREP SB: North Medford slides by Century in 6A playoff opener

Published 8:04 am Tuesday, May 27, 2025

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North Medford's Maili Hamlin slides safely into third base before scoring one of her three runs Monday in a Class 6A softball state playoff win over Century. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

North Medford's Becca Tuivanu connects for a two-RBI hit against Century in the first inning of Monday's Class 6A state playoff opener. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

North Medford pitcher Julia Edwards cools off between innings during Monday's Class 6A state playoff opener against Century in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

North Medford's Sadie Hall connects for a bunt to get on base against Century Monday in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

North Medford third baseman Becca Tuivanu makes a play off a bunt for an out against Century during Monday's 9-2 win in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

North Medford second baseman Kaelyn Russell-Tyler tracks in the ball to make a play for an out Monday against Century in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

North Medford's Sadie Hall, front, races toward first base after dropping down a squeeze bunt to plate a run against Century Monday in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

No. 4-seeded Black Tornado put the pressure on against error-prone Jaguars; South Medford suffers first-round upset

Becca Tuivanu got North Medford off to a strong start with a two-run double in the first inning, Julia Edwards didn’t allow visiting Century to get comfortable after the first inning and the fourth-seeded Black Tornado kept the pressure on until the Jaguars ultimately broke in a 9-2 victory Monday.

North Medford’s sixth win in the last eight outings allowed the Black Tornado to push on into the second round of the Class 6A softball state playoffs, where they will host No. 20 seed Oregon City at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Pioneers upset No. 13 Mountainside, 2-0, in the first round.

North Medford’s Becca Tuivanu connects for a two-RBI hit against Century in the first inning of Monday’s Class 6A state playoff opener. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“We faced (Oregon City) last year in our spring break tournament,” said North Medford head coach Chris Campbell of the matchup, “but that was basically two seasons ago, so the teams are a lot different on each side since then.”

A heavy favorite to advance Monday, North Medford had to shake off a little early jitters that allowed Century to load the bases with two outs before sophomore starter Julia Edwards erased the threat with an inning-ending strikeout.

Edwards barely had time to get a drink and catch her breath before her teammates supplied some offensive support. Maili Hamlin drew a leadoff walk and Natalie Tlascala had a one-out single before Tuivanu stepped up to rip a two-run hit that left her on second base after Century’s relay home.

“Julia kind of struggled a little bit there with some control things, but once she got rolling she was fine,” said Campbell. “We just keep telling her to hit spots, don’t walk people and let your defense do some work and good things will happen. That was important for her to get out of that (early jam), and then for us to come in and get a couple runs for her right off the bat with Becca’s big two-run hit.”

“This whole year she’s come through in a lot of big spots for us, that’s for sure,” Campbell said of the Cascade Christian transfer. “We scored some runs and got out on the board first, which is always good for us.”

North Medford (21-6) continued to put the pressure on, and the Jaguars couldn’t handle making play after play on the defensive end. Century committed 10 errors from the fourth to the sixth innings — six in the fifth that led to five runs and allowed the Tornado to build a 7-0 cushion.

North Medford’s Sadie Hall connects for a bunt to get on base against Century Monday in Medford. (Andy Atkinson / for the Rogue Valley Times)

“That was the motto, put the ball on the ground and let them make plays,” said Campbell. “So that’s what we did.”

“There was a lot of hard-hit balls and making them make plays, and we started playing a little bit of small-ball with them and doing some different things that are kind of our forte,” he added. “If we’re going to face somebody that might be a little overpowering or we’re just not getting good bats on balls, let’s try some small-ball and see how they can handle that. We’ve got a lot of team speed and ability to do some of that stuff, too.”

Maleyah Thoele was the lone North player to register multiple hits due to all of the Century errors, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs in an outing highlighted by a sixth-inning RBI triple. Hamlin reached base three of her four times at the plate and scored three times.

Edwards wound up with seven strikeouts in six innings before turning the pitching duties over to Malia Baker. Edwards allowed five hits with three walks, and no runs by Century.

SOUTHRIDGE 5, SOUTH MEDFORD 1: South Medford, the No. 12 seed, struggled to put consecutive hits together against Southridge senior pitcher Sloane Swenson, who joined the Panthers’ Jordan Knutson in posting 11 strikeouts but got the benefit of two unearned runs and a two-run home run in the seventh inning by Sierra Llamas in the 6A state playoff opener.

Shelby Hillyer supplied two doubles and Jayden Cote also had two hits with a double for host South Medford (18-8), but the bottom two-thirds of the lineup went a combined 0-for-17 to keep the Panthers from capitalizing.

After No. 21 Southridge (13-13) pushed its lead to 3-0 in the top of the sixth inning on a second straight frame with an error leading to an unearned run, the Panthers saw Hillyer and Cote produce back-to-back hits to threaten the scoreboard. Hillyer scored on a groundout by Aubree Joe, but Swenson got Knutson to flyout to center field to mitigate the damage.

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