Prep Baseball: Roseburg outlasts North Medford 15-11

MEDFORD — It wasn’t pretty, but you’ll take wins anyway you can get them in the month of May.

The Roseburg Indians outlasted North Medford 15-11 in a Southwest Conference game Tuesday at Jim McAbee Field. The contest featured a combined 19 walks, three hit batters and seven errors.

The Indians and Black Tornado traded the lead back-and-forth through the first three innings, but the Tribe took the lead for good in a 10-run fourth inning.

Roseburg (13-10, 9-7 SWC) sent 15 hitters to the plate and faced three different North Medford (13-10, 9-6) pitchers. The Indians only had three hits in the frame, but took advantage of nine walks and an error.

The fourth inning started on a positive note for North Medford. Relief pitcher Reese Thompson got a strikeout and a groundout to begin the frame, but the sophomore would go on to allow the next seven batters to reach base, all of which would score.

Christian Korba, who was making his return from missing games due to illness over the weekend, had two of his three hits in the fourth inning, including a two-run single that capped Roseburg’s scoring.

Both pitching staffs struggled to record outs throughout the matchup. The Black Tornado used four arms over seven innings, while the Indians sent five pitchers to the mound.

Roseburg starter Danner Wertz faced seven batters and allowed a pair of runs in the first inning, his only inning of work. The sophomore was the lead-off batter in the second, but he didn’t finish the at bat as he was pulled due to injury with a full count.

Korba took over for the Indians and pitched a perfect second inning before things unraveled for the freshman in the third. The first seven batters in the third inning reached base against Korba and all of them would score. He was relieved after allowing seven runs on two hits with three walks, two hit batters and a strikeout.

Paxton Burke and Amos Bowers each had three RBIs for the Indians and Korba drove in a pair.

Thompson had two hits and three RBIs to help lead the North Medford batters. Connor Roush and Kyson Schied also contributed two RBIs each for the Black Tornado.

Roseburg and North Medford will conclude the Southwest Conference season with a doubleheader on Saturday at Champion Car Wash Field. First pitch is slated for noon.

Roseburg;031;(10)00;1;—;15;9;3

N. Medford;208;010;0;—;11;8;4

Wertz, Korba (2), Coate (3), Coleman (6), Burke (7) and Bowers; Poff, Thompson (4), Tlascala (4), Stowers (4) and Patterson. W — Coate (1-1). L — Thompson. SV — Burke (1).