There was certainly time to play the what-if game but, instead, North Medford put its focus on the task at hand Saturday and figured the chips would just fall where they may when it comes to pursuit of a Southwest Conference baseball title.

With that singular attention, the Black Tornado shrugged off a recent two-game skid and came up with a pair of defensive gems to sweep past Roseburg, 3-1 and 6-4, for a crucial pair of wins in the final SWC doubleheader of the spring.

“We told our kids all week not to have any regrets,” said North Medford head coach Kerry Curtis. “We knew what we had to take care of coming into it. We were in a position where we needed some help from some other teams (to move into first place) — and we got a little bit from South (Medford) — and Grants Pass ended up splitting to take it. That was kind of frustrating because we could’ve been in a three-way tie.”

North Medford’s sweep Saturday pushed the Black Tornado to 17-8 overall and 11-7 in SWC play, tied with Willamette (15-9, 11-7 SWC) for runner-up and one game back of Grants Pass (13-10, 12-6), which split with Sheldon in the league finale.

Six of North Medford’s seven conference losses were by two runs or less.

“Any one of those games changes our position, and those are tough,” said Curtis, “but what I’m most proud of our boys is that they took care of what they needed to take care of today. The chips fall where they may.”

“Grants Pass gets their split so they win the conference and hat’s off to them, they had a good season and they’ve got some good players over there,” he added. “We’re right in the mix. Ultimately what it comes down to now is seedings and playoffs, and that’s all we care about. It would’ve been nice to hang another banner but what we’re looking for now is playoff attitudes and playoff preparation and let’s go from there.”

Saturday provided a fantastic springboard for that for the Black Tornado, who actually own the SWC’s best power ranking for state seeding at No. 14 overall — ahead of GP (No. 18) and Willamette (No. 23) entering this final week of nonconference play.

Senior Colton Morgan and junior Dominic Daffron were each on top of their game on the bump, with each going the distance to fend off Roseburg (14-12, 10-8).

Morgan allowed three hits with four strikeouts and one walk, while Daffron managed one strikeout with two walks against nine hits as the Indians really dialed in to try and salvage at least a split in Game 2.

“It really starts with Dom and Colton on the mound, both those guys threw really good today,” said Curtis. “They just had really good command of their pitches and I think, more than anything, those two guys set the tone for the day.”

Both right-handers were backed by a steady defense that kept the Indians from mounting too much of an offensive attack.

“I’m just really proud of our defense, we had zero errors on the day,” said Curtis. “Frankie Rutigliano played phenomenal at shortstop and really made some great plays. It was just a great team effort.”

In the opener, Joey Newberg had a one-out single in the second inning and Colton Miller walked to set the table for Jake Payton, who ripped an RBI single into right-center and then advanced to second as a second run scored on a throwing error at third base by Roseburg.

After the Indians cut their deficit in half, Jeremiah Robbins supplied an immediate answer with a leadoff double down the left-field line and then Morgan later supplied a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 margin.

In Game 2, North Medford broke the game open with a five-run surge in the fourth inning, highlighted by doubles from Kellen Willer and Miller, who has taken over in center field for injured junior Easton Curtis. Curtis suffered a partial UCL tear but will not need surgery and has already begun therapy to be available during the summer American Legion season.

Daffrom went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in Game 2 to help his own cause, while Rutigliano was 2-for-3 with two runs and North got 2-for-3 efforts from Willer and Newberg.

FIRST GAME

Roseburg 000 010 0 — 1 3 1

North Medford 020 010 x — 3 8 0

Johnson and Burke; C. Morgan and Robbins. W — C. Morgan. L — Johnson. 2B — NM: Robbins, Payton, Miller, Rutigliano.

SECOND GAME

Roseburg 000 201 1 — 4 9 1

North Medford 001 500 x — 6 10 0

Harrison, St. Clair (5) and Burke; Daffron and Robbins. W — Daffron. L — Harrison. 2B — R: St. Clair, Harrison; NM: Willer, Miller. 3B — NM: Rutigliano.

SOUTH MEDFORD 9-6, WILLAMETTE 7-7: At Eugene, South Medford’s late-season surge continued with a 9-7 upset over Willamette in Game 1 of the Southwest Conference doubleheader but the Panthers couldn’t complete the sweep after suffering a 7-6 extra-inning loss in Game 2.

Grady McQuillan hit a sixth-inning grand slam to help power South Medford (9-16, 6-12 SWC) in the opener.

Standing No. 33 in the Class 6A state power rankings — 32 teams advance to the playoffs — the Panthers have two nonconference games remaining this coming week against Summit and Hidden Valley before the playoff rankings freeze Thursday.

Willamette (15-9, 11-7) finished in a second-place tie in the SWC standings with North Medford, one game back of Grants Pass.

THURSTON 10-10, CRATER 3-0: At Springfield, Crater dropped into a tie for second place in the Midwestern League after Thurston swept the three-game series, posting 10-3 and 10-0 victories in the doubleheader.

The Comets moved to 14-9 overall and 10-5 in MWL play entering this week’s final series against Ashland, which also stands 10-5 in league and is 13-9 overall.

Thurston remained unbeaten at 15-0 in the MWL and 21-3 overall.

EAGLE POINT 2-7, SPRINGFIELD 0-1: At Eagle Point, Eagle Point pitchers Cruz Jimenez and Luca Fazio each struck out 10 in complete-game efforts to lead the Eagles to the Midwestern League sweep.

Jimenez allowed one hit with no walks, striking out the first six batters he faced in Game 1, while Fazio gave up only two hits with three walks in Game 2 for Eagle Point (12-14, 5-13 MWL).

Mason DeVry singled home Collin Stockton and Sean McFall for the game’s only runs in the first inning of the opener, while Braden Nugent went 2-for-3 with three runs in the nightcap. Jimenez, Fazio and Ian Isackson each drove in runs against Springfield (1-23, 0-15).

FIRST GAME

Springfield 000 000 0 — 0 1 2

Eagle Point 200 000 x — 2 4 2

Smith and Letsom; Jimenez and Stockton. W — Jimenez. L — Smith.

SECOND GAME

Springfield 000 001 0 — 1 2 4

Eagle Point 041 011 x — 7 5 1

Leas and James; Fazio and Stockton. W — Fazio. L — Leas. 2B — S: Leas; EP: Nugent.

MAZAMA 7-9, PHOENIX 6-16: At Klamath Falls, Phoenix scored 11 runs in the top of the seventh inning of Game 2 to rally past Mazama in the Pirates’ season finale.

Phoenix (8-18, 4-12 Skyline) collected four hits in the seventh, including a two-run double by Karver Wolowicz, and was aided by seven walks, two hit batters and one error in the Skyline Conference contest.

Wolowicz finished 3-for-3 with a pair of two-run doubles and two runs scored, while Jackson Shilts went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs and Ryan Watts was 2-for-3 with one run and two RBis in Game 2.

In the opener, Phoenix led 4-0 before Mazama (4-20, 3-13) rallied with seven straight runs. Shilts posted a pair of triples and scored twice, while Watts was 2-for-3 with two runs and one RBI and Caden Cunningham went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.

FIRST GAME

Phoenix 110 020 2 — 6 9 2

Mazama 000 034 x — 7 7 1

S. Shilts, Wolowicz (6) and J. Shilts; Justice, Lobdell (7) and Carter. W — Justice. L — Wolowicz. 2B — M: Carter. 3B — P: J. Shilts 2.

SECOND GAME

Phoenix 050 000 (11) — 16 11 1

Mazama 030 230 1 — 9 10 2

Phillips, J. Shilts, Wolowicz and Cunningham; Ford, Lobdell (7), Nickerson (7), Carter (7) and Carter, Lobdell (7). W — Wolowicz. L — Lobdell. 2B — P: J Shilts, Wolowicz 2; M: Ford.

Softball

ROSEBURG 1-7, NORTH MEDFORD 0-3: Maili Hamlin went 2-for-3 in the opener and Gia Rutigliano was 2-for-2 in the nightcap but North Medford struggled to put things together offensively against Roseburg pitcher Jasmine Morales, who allowed a combined nine hits with 16 strikeouts in the Southwest Conference doubleheader.

North Medford had been hoping to lock up second place outright in the SWC but with the sweep, the Black Tornado (17-9, 12-6 SWC) and Roseburg (16-10, 12-6) finished the season in a tie behind first-place Sheldon (23-3, 18-0).

North Medford senior Gabbi Urban had a solid day inside the circle, allowing only four hits and one walk with 11 strikeouts in a combined 10 innings.

Roseburg pushed the lone run across in the top of the sixth inning in Game 1 when Masyn Tabor reached on a bunt single and ultimately scored on a two-out single to center field by Morales.

The Black Tornado advanced their leadoff batter into scoring position in the first and fifth innings but were unable to follow up with a timely hit.

Julia Edwards connected for an RBI double in the fourth inning to highlight North’s offensive production in Game 2, with Natalie Tlascala also driving in a run.

FIRST GAME

Roseburg 000 001 0 — 1 3 1

North Medford 000 000 0 — 0 4 0

Morales and Martinez-Bryson; Urban and Lawton. W — Morales. L — Urban.

SECOND GAME

Roseburg 120 400 0 — 7 7 0

North Medford 001 200 0 — 3 5 3

Morales and Martinez-Bryson; Roberts, Urban (5) and Lawton. W — Morales. L — Roberts. 2B — R: Ellenwood; NM: Edwards.