Prep Baseball: Roseburg rallies to upset Barlow 5-3 in playoff opener

GRESHAM — The Roseburg Indians and Barlow Bruins weren’t just battling each other to begin the Class 6A baseball state playoffs on Monday, the teams were also fighting against the elements.

Persistent rain drenched the Indians and Bruins for seven innings but it didn’t dampen the excitement when Roseburg freshman Dylan Gregory snared a line drive out of the air for the final out of a comeback 5-3 upset victory.

“Tough conditions today in the wind and the wind and the rain, but both teams had to play in it and credit to our kids for staying with it and making some real tough plays in some tough conditions defensively,” Roseburg coach Troy Thompson said.

Roseburg (16-11), seeded 21st in the 32-team playoff bracket, eliminated No. 12 Barlow (18-10). The Indians advance to face No. 5 Willamette in the second round on Wednesday in Eugene.

Danner Wertz was sharp enough over 6 2/3 innings on the mound for the Indians. The sophomore was touched up for three runs on eight hits, but he managed to work around traffic on the bases. Wertz finished with three walks, six strikeouts and one hit batter.

Barlow took a 1-0 lead in the first inning as Wertz tried to figure out how to handle playing with a wet baseball. Amari Reynolds led off with a single and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. A couple of wild pitches moved Reynolds to third and eventually allowed him to score the go-ahead run.

“At first it was pretty tough,” Wertz said about the conditions. “But then I just kind of figured it out. I kept asking for new, dry balls and it worked out.”

Wertz locked in over the next four innings and gave his team a chance to overcome the one-run deficit.

Roseburg tied the game in the fifth inning against Barlow starter Zaydon Marguth. Amos Bowers hit a one-out double on a ball that nearly cleared the left field fence.

Mason Young followed with the second of his three base hits in the game. With runners on the corners, Zaydon Marguth attempted a pickoff to first but lost a handle on the ball and was called for a balk that tied the score at 1-1.

The Bruins made a pitching change in the sixth inning, but it was once again the wet conditions that were the biggest factors. Zaydon Marguth moved to shortstop and mis-handled a grounder that slipped out of his hand as he tried to flip to second base for a force out.

A double-play on a sacrifice bunt attempt nearly wiped the error from Barlow’s memory, but another error by the shortstop gave the Indians life. Two wild pitches would allow Roseburg to plate runs and grab a 3-1 advantage.

Logan Sermon led off the home half of the sixth with a double against Wertz, but the sophomore retired the next three batters to get out of the inning with minimal damage. Sermcon scored on a groundout, but the Indians remained ahead 3-2.

Roseburg tacked on two insurance runs against Chaz Johnson in the seventh. Brady Popken drew a bases-loaded walk and Nick Ruiz pushed the lead to 5-2 with a two-out single.

“We had some very good swings today,” Thompson said. “Obviously, we would like to put up a few more runs early, but getting them at all is always good.”

The Bruins tried to spark a rally in their final at-bats. Reynolds started the inning with a triple and scored on a groundout. Zaydon Marguth reached on a one-out single and Wertz put the game-tying runner at first with a two-out walk.

The Indians moved Paxton Burke to the mound to get the final out and Gregory came off the bench to play shortstop. Sermon, one of Barlow’s top hitters in the game, drilled a 1-0 pitch at Gregory who made a leaping play and timed his movements perfectly to catch the line drive for the final out.

“It was really awesome, to have teammates all screaming and stuff and coaches all yelling and running on to the field,” Gregory said.

“That’s a good young player that’s going to play a lot of baseball for us in the coming years and he got an opportunity today,” Thompson said. “We tell our kids you never know when your opportunity is going to come up and when it does, be ready to go and play the best you can with the chance you have.”

Roseburg will have a rematch with Willamette in the second round. The Indians went 1-2 against the Wolverines during the regular season.

“We’re excited to play them again. They took the series against us and it will be fun to see them again,” Wertz said.

Willamette was the Southwest Conference champion and beat Ida B. Wells 10-5 in the first round on Wednesday in Eugene.

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Barlow;100;001;1;—;3;8;2

Wertz, Burke (7) and Bowers; Z. Marguth, Reynolds (6), Johnson (7) and O. Marguth. W — Wertz (7-2). L — Reynolds. SV — Burke (2). 2B — Bowers (R), Sermon (B). 3B — Reynolds (B).