Roseburg baseball earns a split with South Medford behind Wertz’s no-hitter

The sorrows of a shutout loss to open a Southwest Conference doubleheader against South Medford were erased in the nightcap by Roseburg freshman Danner Wertz, who threw a complete-game no-hitter for a 4-0 win over the Panthers on Saturday at Bill Gray Legion Stadium at Champion Car Wash Field.

“A good comeback win. A good day to come out with a split at home,” Roseburg coach Troy Thompson said. “It’s one of those things where it’s not what you’re hoping for, but it’s what we got. And hopefully we can build on Game 2 and that momentum we created into next week.”

Wertz struck out five and faced one batter over the minimum as he pitched Roseburg to victory. South Medford’s Tristan Mallari highlighted a 7-0 win in Game 1 with a complete-game performance and a season-high nine strikeouts.

“Tremendous pitching performance from Danner Wertz. For any pitcher to have the command he had today, then to have it pay off at the end of the game with a no-hitter and a batter over the minimum was fun to watch,” Thompson said.

“It felt very good, coming off that loss, to come in and win this game,” Wertz said. The underclassman thrived in just his second start of the season, but just tried to keep it simple.

“I thought if I just stuck to my stuff and my team backed me up everything will be fine,” Wertz explained.

The defense provided plenty of support, including on the final out. South Medford clean-up hitter Evan Rhoden hit a high-hoping ground ball towards the hole at shortstop that took some time to reach Paxton Burke, forcing Burke to hop to receive the ball and quickly make a throw across the diamond. First baseman Jake Johnson had to dig the ball out to complete the play and seal the win.

“I was real nervous once he jumped up in the air, but when I saw the throw I knew it was over,” Wertz said.

“I think our defense in general did a great job,” Burke said. “That last play, I was a little shaky, a little nervous before because I knew that kid had been pulling the ball all day and then happened to make the play.”

Johnson gave Roseburg (5-3, 2-1 SWC) a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a two-out single that scored Burke, who reached base on a leadoff walk.

Wertz helped his own cause with a two-out single in the fourth that added another run for the Tribe. Rylee Cheney served as a courtesy runner for Wertz and later scored in the fourth inning on a fielding error that gave the Indians a 3-0 lead.

Luke Robbins had a two-out single in the fifth that scored his brother, Cal Robbins, and put Roseburg ahead 4-0.

While the offense was building a lead for Wertz, Burke said the team was trying to limit their interactions with the freshman.

“He just sat down and relaxed,” Burke said. “We didn’t say much to him. Just told him to keep pitching.”

Wertz gave up the perfect game with a walk to Rhoden to begin the fifth inning, but Rhoden was quickly sent back to the dugout when he was caught stealing on a throw by Amos Bowers.

South Medford (5-4, 1-2) got two more runners on base in the sixth inning on a walk and a hit batter, but the damage was minimal thanks to a double play turned by Burke up the middle.

Wertz ended the game facing just 22 batters total, with just 82 pitches thrown.

“I think that was pretty impressive. I haven’t seen many no-hitters,” Burke said. “Watching that was quite amazing to go through and stuff. It was a great moment and I hope to see more of it.”

South Medford was in position to sweep a road series thanks to a sharp outing by Mallari. He allowed just four hits over seven shutout innings and managed to pitch around multiple scoring chances by Roseburg.

“They came in and pitched it very well and kept us off-balance. In our limited opportunities we didn’t come through and they did a great job on the mound that game,” Thompson said.

Rhoden was 2-for-4 in the opener with two doubles and a pair of RBIs. Easton Douglas drove in the first run of the game in the second inning against Roseburg starter Rylee Cheney.

Grady McQuillan hit a solo home run in the fifth and Mallari and Keegan Painter later followed with back-to-back RBI singles as the Panthers stretched their lead to 6-0 in the frame.

Cheney took the loss for the Indians, allowing six runs on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Roseburg will host North Medford for a Southwest Conference game at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Champion Car Wash Field.

First Game

S. Medford;020;040;1;—;7;8;0

Roseburg;000;000;0;—;0;4;2

Mallari and Douglas; Cheney, St. Clair (5) and C. Robbins. W — Mallari (2-1). L — Cheney (0-1). 2B — Rhoden 2 (SM). 3B — C. Robbins (R). HR — McQuillan (SM).

Second Game

S. Medford;000;000;0;—;0;0;2

Roseburg;100;210;X;—;4;8;0

Rhoden, Lewis (5) and Douglas; Wertz and Bowers. W — Wertz (2-0). L — Rhoden (0-1). 2B — L. Robbins (R).