ROSEBURG – Close games continues to be a trend for the Roseburg Doc Stewart’s baseball team, but on Friday the team finally started coming out on the right side of things.
Hosting the Doc’s Tournament at Legion Field, the Doc’s ended a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the Mid Valley Rockets. It was the fifth straight game for the Doc’s to be decided by just one run, but for the first time all season the Doc’s were on the winning side.
Roseburg scored all three of its runs in the first two innings. A two-out, bloop single by Treven Jacks in the first inning scored the first two and a two out single by Shawn Rigsby scored the third run in the second. It proved all that starting pitcher Wryland McKnight would need.
McKnight went the distance to a complete game victory. He allowed eight hits and two runs while striking out six and walking two. The only two runs for Mid Valley came in the fifth inning. Two hits and a walk loaded the bases and the Rockets scored their first run on a ground out by John Gederos. Jacob Trader drove in the second run with a single to left field.
Mid Valley got the tying run on base in the final two innings, but McKnight finished strong with four strikeout down the stretch. The victory was his first of the year.
With the loss, Mid Valley fell to 0-2 in the Doc’s Tournament. The Rockets are joined by Australia, which also lost its first two games in tournament play.
The Doc’s finished the night with a wild contest against Corvallis. The two sides traded the lead back-and-forth for seven innings, but finished in a 10-10 tie because of the two hour time limit set for the tournament games.
Corvallis scored twice in the first to lead 2-0, but the Doc’s rallied to take a 4-2 lead by scoring once in the second and three times in the third inning. Corvallis went back in front with four runs in the fifth inning off of starter Roy Benzel, but the Doc’s once again rallied and tied the game 6-6 with two runs in the fourth.
It didn’t take long for the Marketmen to bounce back. Frey Birdwell drove in two runs with his second hit of the game in the sixth inning, putting Corvallis up 8-6. The Marketmen added two more runs in the top of the seventh and once again it was Birdwell with an RBI single, driving in the final run for Corvallis to make the score 10-6.
The Doc’s did not fold. The team took advantage of poor pitching from reliever Cole Parra to score four times in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game. Parra walked the first two batter, hit the third, and walked two more before getting pulled from the game. The final two walks came with the bases loaded and made the score 10-8.
Zack Zalesky took over on the mound but gave up a single to Chance Beecher to make the score 10-9 and a wild pitch later score Andrew Harrington to tie the game with no one out. The Doc’s needed just one more run to walkoff with the win, but Zalesky settled in and got the final three outs leaving two Doc’s runners in scoring position.
The Doc’s and Corvallis finished day one with 1-0-1 records, falling into second place behind Vancouver, which went 2-0 on day one. Medford finished 1-1, while Mid Valley and Australia went 0-2. Full results and the schedule for day two of the Doc’s Tournament can be found HERE.
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