Prep Baseball: Roseburg rallies for 5-2 win over Grants Pass in SWC opener
Danner Wertz was 3-for-3 and struck out 10 batters in a complete-game 5-2 victory for the Roseburg Indians against the Grants Pass Cavemen Tuesday in the Southwest Conference opener at Champion Car Wash Field.
Roseburg and Grants Pass will meet for a doubleheader at noon Saturday at Grants Pass High School to finish out the three-game season series.
“You’ve got to be able to play seven full innings and I thought today was a good example of us doing that,” Roseburg coach Troy Thompson said. “It didn’t start the way we wanted it to, but it got better for us on the mound and at the plate as the game went on.”
Grants Pass (3-6, 0-1 SWC) scored a pair of runs in the first inning on three hits, but Wertz settled in and allowed just two more hits to the Cavemen over six consecutive scoreless innings.
Wertz helped his own cause with a two-run home run to tie the score at 2-2 in the third inning. The sophomore blasted his first homer of the season over the fence in left-center field off of Grants Pass starter Erick Pezqueda.
“It felt great getting a ‘W’ for my team,” Wertz said. “I’ve been just really working on my swing at practice, Paxton (Burke) has been helping me out a lot, and just trying to keep it simple.”
Pezqueda started strong for the Cavemen, but Roseburg (4-3, 1-0) forced the senior off the mound in the fifth.
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Wertz led off the frame with a ground-rule double over the fence in right field. An error put AJ Black on base and Nick Ruiz later drove in both runners with a single to left field to give Roseburg a 4-2 advantage.
Pezqueda left the mound after 4 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits with five walks and three strikeouts.
Paxton Burke tacked on another run in the fifth with a single off of relief pitcher Mason Scott.
The Indians finished with nine hits in the contest. Burke went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Mason Young also had a pair of hits in the game.
Grants Pass scored on a couple of big hits in the first inning. Nathan Bassett drove in a run with a double and then scored when Pezqueda followed with a triple.
Cam Holland also had a triple in the game for the Cavemen.
The rest of the Southwest Conference also started league play Tuesday. No. 8-ranked Willamette rallied from a 9-0 deficit against Sheldon to win 10-9. No. 10 South Medford came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat South Eugene 12-2 in five innings.
Grants Pass;200;000;0;—;2;5;2
Roseburg;002;030;X;—;5;9;0
Pezqueda, Scott (5) and Bassett; Wertz and Bowers. W — Wertz (2-1). L — Pezqueda. 2B — Bassett (G.P.), Wertz (R). 3B — Pezqueda (G.P.), Holland (G.P.). HR — Wertz (R).
