No. 4-seeded Black Tornado erupt for all 3 runs in fifth-inning surge energized by Thoele’s dynamic double play

North Medford turned defense into offense Friday, and that helped the fourth-seeded Black Tornado secure their first appearance in the Class 6A softball semifinals in seven years.

North Medford got a diving catch by right fielder Maleyah Thoele in the top of the fifth inning, and she instantly popped up to throw a strike to double off a West Salem runner at second base and end a quality threat by the fifth-seeded Titans.

In the bottom half of the frame, the Black Tornado broke a scoreless tie in the quarterfinal matchup with three runs, and that proved more than enough as they held on for a 3-1 triumph.

“What a huge play that was to bring momentum onto our side right before we were getting up to bat,” North Medford head coach Chris Campbell said of Thoele’s effort. “We rode that momentum wave to put three runs on the board, and that did it for us.”

After advancing past the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2018 — when North Medford lost 8-7 at Clackamas in the semifinals a year after earning a third state championship in a six-year span — the Black Tornado got a postgame lift by learning that No. 8 seed McMinnville pulled off a 5-3 upset of top-seeded Sunset.

The end result of that outcome means North Medford (23-6) will play host to the Grizzlies (22-7) on Tuesday — a fact that was not lost on Campbell and company.

“That was a nice gift there from them to take out No. 1 so we weren’t on a bus ride up to Portland,” Campbell said with a laugh, “but we’ll be ready to play on Tuesday, that’s for sure.”

It will be the second time the teams will meet in Medford, but the first at North Medford’s true stomping grounds at the high school.

“That’s a big deal,” said Campbell of North’s homefield advantage. “A lot of teams come down to this park and this facility, and it’s pretty intimidating when you pull into the park and you see eight state championships and 210-foot fences and dirt infields when they’re all used to playing on turf. It’s an intimidating thing.”

“We love playing at home, we love our fans, they’ve been phenomenal,” he added. “We’ve been packing the stands and they’ve just been cheering and rooting us on the whole playoffs and through the season, it’s just been great. It’s definitely a homefield advantage.”

That said, Tuesday’s game is bound to be a battle.

North Medford led 5-0 through one inning when the teams met March 25 during the North Medford Spring Break Invitational — which was played at Lithia & Driveway Fields — before McMinnville rallied with eight unanswered runs for an 8-5 victory.

Malia Baker was the pitcher of record on that day for the Tornado, but sophomore Julia Edwards has been the team’s mainstay for the better part of the season.

“They’re the real deal,” Campbell said of the Grizzlies. “You don’t get this far in the playoffs, especially knocking off No. 1 on their home field, and not have a team that competes. We’ve played them last year and this year in the spring break tournament, so this is kind of the rubber game. We beat them last year 2-1, and they beat us this year 8-5.”

Getting to a rematch certainly wasn’t easy for North Medford, but the momentum built after Thoele’s double play carried over to the team’s next at-bat.

As she’s prone to do, Maili Hamlin instigated the offense by reaching safely on a one-out bunt that seemed routine, until it wasn’t.

“Lefty slappers with a lot of speed, those are kids that can definitely put pressure on you right away and cause you to do things like throw balls away or do things like that because you’re not anticipating how fast she actually is,” Campbell said of the leadoff hitter. “You think, ‘Oh, this is a routine play,’ and the next thing you know she’s a foot off the bag when you look up.”

Hamlin stole second base while Thoele was up to bat, and quickly darted to third when Thoele shipped a single up the middle into center field. A strong throw home by West Salem’s Kali Parks kept Hamlin from advancing past third, but Thoele was able to take second base in the exchange.

That left things up to No. 3 hitter Natalie Tlascala to come through, and she did all that was needed to ensure her team crossed the plate with a sacrifice fly to center field.

“All I was praying for was, ‘Hey, just hit me a flyball,’ because I know how fast Maili is at third,” said Campbell. “She just sat there on the bag with her head down waiting for my go.”

The throw home was a little low and was tipped, making things easy for Hamlin to create a 1-0 lead and Thoele to scoot into third base.

She wasn’t there long, however, as cleanup hitter Becca Tuivanu continued her tear with a two-out ripped double that skipped to the right-center fence for an RBI double.

“Becca came up huge again with a very key hit to right-center field,” Campbell said of the added cushion and emotional jolt of such a well-struck ball. “That got things really rolling, and we just kept going from there.”

Caileigh Raines followed with her own RBI double, this one rolling to the warning track in left-center to create a 3-0 bulge.

West Salem (23-6) was able to get a run back with a two-out home run from Courtney Gills in the sixth inning, but a nice inning-ending catch in center field by Jaycee Russell-Tyler kept it at that.

In the seventh, Edwards put up a 1-2-3 frame with a foul pop-up to catcher Sadie Hall, a strikeout and a smooth pick and quick delivery from the shortstop Tlascala for the game-clincher.

Edwards allowed only four hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

“She was just nails in the circle, and the defense has just been phenomenal. These kids are laying out for balls, making backhand plays deep in the hole and throwing kids out … it’s fun to watch.”

And fun that there is still more to come for the Black Tornado.

“It’s been a fun ride,” said Campbell. “It’s a great group of girls, and they just never know when to quit and they just keep playing for each other and doing good things, that’s for sure.”

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