Prep Baseball: Roseburg pulls off season sweep against Grants Pass
GRANTS PASS — The Roseburg Indians finished a season-sweep of the Grants Pass Cavemen behind a comeback win and a shutout victory in a Southwest Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Grants Pass High School.
Roseburg (6-3, 3-0 SWC) scored five runs in their final at-bats to rally for a 5-2 win in Game 1 against the Cavemen. Freshman Christian Korba drove in five runs and shutout Grants Pass in a 10-0 complete-game victory in Game 2.
The Indians took all three games in league play against Grants Pass (3-8, 0-3).
Grants Pass junior Cam Holland kept the Indians scoreless over six innings in the opener. He allowed just two hits and had six strikeouts, but Roseburg started finding success against him in the seventh.
The Cavemen were leading 1-0 and were two outs away from securing a victory. Holland got a groundout to start the final frame, but then hit Nick Ruiz and walked Greyson Coate.
Mason Young laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases and ramp up the pressure on Grants Pass. Holland got Paxton Burke to roll a grounder to second base, but the Cavmen were only able to get an out at second base and Ruiz scored to tie the game.
An error at third base allowed two more runs to score and relief pitcher Nathan Bassett later walked in two more runs to give the Indians a four-run advantage.
Burke relieved Roseburg’s starter Fletcher Coleman in the sixth inning. He gave up a one-out single to Ryan Glenn that put a run on the board for G.P., but the Cavemen fell short of a comeback as Burke finished the game with back-to-back strikeouts.
Coleman was strong through five innings, allowing one run on five hits with eight strikeouts and only four walks. He managed to strand nine runners on base by getting out of a bases-loaded situation three times.
“Great job on the mound by Fletcher Coleman and great job by Paxton Burke come in and keep the number at one and give us a chance there in the seventh,” Roseburg coach Troy Thompson said. “A great team effort from the mound.”
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In Game 2, the Indians put up 10 hits on the way to their most runs in a game this season.
Korba was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and five RBIs. He gave the Indians a 1-0 lead in the second on a one-out double. The freshman drove put the Tribe ahead 4-0 with a bases loaded single in the sixth.
His final hit of the game was a two-run double in the seventh as the Indians stretched the lead to 9-0.
While the offense was rolling, Korba was taking control on the mound with some help from the defense. He allowed just three hits with two walks and three strikeouts, earning his first victory of the season.
“I have not been hitting so well, but I’m proud of myself for hitting the ball,” Korba said. “But also, a complete-game pitching feels good.”
“It’s great to know that I can throw the ball in the zone and I can trust my defense to catch everything and not just focus on getting strikeouts,” Korba added.
“It was nice to see (Korba) had a good game all around,” Thompson said. “With that being said, we had a whole team behind him that played good solid defense and kept coming offensively.”
Ryland Glasser and Burke also had two hits in the nightcap.
Roseburg has won three straight games and will next visit South Eugene at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday for a single conference game.
First Game
Roseburg;000;000;5;—5;3;1
Grants Pass;000;010;1;—;2;6;2
Coleman, Burke (6) and Bowers; Holland, Bassett (7) and Basset, Valenzuela. W — Burke (2-0). L — Holland. 2B — Bowers (R), Wertz (R).
Second Game
Roseburg;011;005;3;—;10;10;0
Grants Pass;000;000;0;—;0;3;2
Korba and Bowers; Hayes, Carnes (6), Glenn (7) and Bassett. W — Korba (1-1). L — Hayes. 2B — Black (R), Korba 2 (R), Glasser (R), Pezqueda (G.P.).
