ROSEBURG – The Roseburg Dr. Stewart’s needed four-straight wins to finish the regular season and win its first Area IV championship in over a decade, unfortunately the Medford Mustangs only needed one.
Medford swept a league doubleheader against Roseburg on Saturday to clinch the Area IV title and defend their championship from 2017. A four-run third inning was the difference in a 5-1 win in game one and the Mustangs finished the sweep with a 5-3 victory in game two.
Medford (35-9; 15-3 Area IV) took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener on a bases-loaded, infield single by Zac Ankeny. Roseburg quickly responded with a run on a two-out single by Jett Black that tied the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the second.
Roseburg (22-18; 9-9 Area IV) starter Payton Hope gave up the lead in the third. Brennan Watts got on with a one-out single and then advanced to second and third base on wild pitches. Jacob Melton drove Watts in with a groundout to second base and gave Medford a 2-1 advantage.
The Doc’s were one out away from getting out of the third inning only trailing by one, but Medford banged out three more hits and drew a walk to add to the lead. The back-breaker was a two-out double by Jon-o Gassman that drove in three runs.
Despite a shaky third inning, Hope settled in and tossed three straight shutout innings and allowed only two more hits, but the Doc’s offense couldn’t bail him out. Roseburg managed only one hit after scoring in the second inning against Medford starter Ethan Whitney.
Medford again took an early lead in game two. The Mustangs scored twice in the first inning off of starter Zack Mandera. A throwing error by Cade Meisner allowed the first run to score and a RBI groundout by Jack Thompson made it 2-0.
Ricky Boortz retired the first two hitters he faced in the bottom of the first, but the Medford starter struggled to get out of the frame. Jonathan Stone started a string of four-straight hits with a double to deep center. Stone eventually scored on a single by Cody Johnson to get the Doc’s back within a run.
Roseburg tied the game with an unearned run in the second and then took its first lead of the series with a run in the fourth. Stone put the Doc’s up 3-2 with a sacrifice fly that scored Garrett Russell.
Medford rallied with two runs in an error-filled fifth inning for the Dr. Stewart’s The Mustangs scored twice to build a 4-3 lead and nearly had another run, but Doran Gillespie made a laser throw to home to gun down Wyatt Baptiste trying to score on a ball that had barely been hit out of the infield.
The Doc’s had two opportunities to push runs across the rest of the way, but left runners stranded in scoring position in the fifth and the seventh.
Medford clinched the Area IV championship, but had already secured its spot as the top seed out of the league. Roseburg will also be in the upcoming state tournament as the host team, but has a chance to secure sole possession of second place in the Area IV standings with at least one win in Sunday’s regular season finale.
The Doc’s will face Medford in a doubleheader to wrap-up the regular season. The game’s will be played at Legion Field in Roseburg due poor air quality in Medford. Game one begins at 5 p.m. Coverage of the games can be found on CBS Sports Radio 1490 The Score and online at 541radio.com.
Game One
Medford 014;000;0 – 5;12;0
Roseburg 010;000;0 – 1;4;0
Whitney and B. Thompson. Hope, B. Black (7) and Holland. W – Ethan Whitney. L – Payton Hope (3-4).
2B: Jonathan Gassman (M)
Game Two
Medford 200;020;1 – 5;8;1
Roseburg 110;100;0 – 3;9;6
Boortz, Sandoval (7) and Geyer. Mandera J. Black (7) and Leischner. W – Ricky Boortz. L – Zack Mandera (3-3). S – Ryan Sandoval.
2B: Jack Thompson (M), Jonathan Stone (R). 3B: Jacob Melton (M).
