Roseburg baseball sweeps No. 10 McMinnville in a pair of tight contests
A Roseburg High School baseball team featuring a number of inexperienced pieces got a couple of confidence-boosting victories in a nonleague doubleheader sweep against McMinnville on Tuesday at Bill Gray Legion Stadium at Champion Car Wash Field.
The Indians scored three runs in their last at-bats to force extra-innings in the opener and won 10-9 on a walk-off single by AJ Black. Roseburg (3-1) finished the sweep with a double-play to secure a 4-3 victory in the nightcap.
“The competitiveness of our kids showed today and that was fun to see,” Roseburg coach Troy Thompson said.
The day was filled with plenty of twists and turns. McMinnville took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of Game 1 on a two-out single by Kane Sullivan, who finished the game 3-for-4. Roseburg answered with an unearned run in the home half of the inning.
A six-run fifth inning blew the game open for the Grizzlies. Roseburg starter Rylee Cheney was roughed up for five hits in the frame and the defense had a pair of errors allowing McMinnville (2-2), ranked 10th in the preseason OSAA coaches poll, to build a 7-1 advantage.
Roseburg responded in the sixth by recording four straight hits to begin the inning. Cal Robbins drove in a pair of runs with a triple and Jake Johnson plated another to pull the Indians within three runs. A two-out single by Fletcher Coleman later in the inning brought home two more runs and drew the Tribe within 7-6.
The Grizzlies added two insurance runs in the seventh on hits by Cam Hyder and Aaron Rolfe, but it wasn’t enough in the end.
The Indians pushed across three runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 9-9. The game-tying run scored on a two-out double by Paxton Burke.
After holding McMinnville scoreless in the top of the eighth, Cal Robbins walked to lead off the bottom of the inning. A sacrifice bunt and an error put him at third and he scored the game-winner as Black’s base hit rolled towards the right field fence.
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Roseburg and McMinnville combined for 26 hits in the contest. Tyler Brummitt and Sullivan both had three hits for McMinnville. Cal Robbins, Johnson, Black and Coleman all had two hits for the Indians.
A bases-loaded walk put Roseburg ahead 1-0 in the first inning of Game 2. McMinnville snatched the lead briefly in the top of the third inning on singles by Hyder, Nash Opitz and Taylor Carnahan.
The Indians retook the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third. Burke gave Roseburg the lead with a two-run, two-out single.
Roseburg starting pitcher Danner Wertz got help from the defense and kept McMinnville off the board. The freshman picked up his first win in his first varsity start after throwing six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk.
Cal Robbins earned his first save after taking over in the seventh. Brayden Mix led off the inning with a single, stole second base and moved to third on a groundout. Rolfe walked to put runners at first and third with just one out.
With the threat of losing the lead late in the game, Cal Robbins got Brummitt to softly lineout to second baseman Kaden Austin, who made a diving catch on the infield and doubled-off Rolfe at first base to seal the victory.
“A lot of positives today and if we did wear down or have innings where we weren’t as sharp, we were able to recover from that pretty quickly,” Thompson said.
The Tribe will host No. 3 South Salem at noon Wednesday for its final nonconference game prior to beginning the Southwest Conference schedule on April 1.
First Game
McMinnville;001;060;20;—;9;14;5
Roseburg;001;005;31;—;10;12;3
Mix, Brummitt (6) and Bizon; Cheney, Black (6), C. Robbins (7) and Bowers. W — C. Robbins (1-0). L — Brummitt. 2B — Hyder (M), Burke (R), Johnson (R). 3B — C. Robbins 2 (R).
Second Game
McMinnville;003;000;0;—;3;8;0
Roseburg;103;000;0;—;4;4;1
Hyder, Lopez (3) and Schoof; Wertz, C. Robbins (7) and C. Robbins, Bowers. W — Wertz (1-0). L — Lopez. SV — C. Robbins. 2B — C. Robbins (R). 3B — Rolfe (M).
