Legion Baseball: Power outage cuts short Docs’ series-opener at Medford
MEDFORD — When Roseburg and Medford meet on the baseball diamond for an American Legion matchup, there’s usually a buzz in the ballpark.
The Docs and Mustangs squared off Monday at Harry and David Field in an Area 4 doubleheader, but the action ended early after a power surge knocked out the stadium lighting and forced Game 2 to be suspended due to darkness.
The black out finished off a wild night as Medford (7-4, 2-3 Area 4) started the twin bill with a walk-off 10-9 victory.
The Mustangs and Dr. Stewart’s traded the lead back-and-forth throughout the seven-inning battle. Roseburg (4-7, 0-5) led 9-8 needing three outs to complete the win and notch its first league victory, but the Mustangs battled back against reliever Greyson Coate.
Medford’s Morgan Austin reached on a lead-off infield single to begin the seventh inning and got into scoring position on a throwing error. Blake Patereau followed with a double to quickly tie the game and put the Mustangs in position to win.
Coate got the first out on a fly ball to right field, but Mason Snopl ended the game with a single down the third base line.
The Mustangs had 18 hits in the matchup, but struggled to put away the Docs.
Errors, walks and a hit batter plagued Medford starter Grady Sickler. The Mustangs built an early 5-1 lead, but the Docs slowly rallied and came back for an 8-6 lead in the fourth inning.
Roseburg scored five times against Sickler, who allowed a total of eight unearned runs. A three-run triple by Christian Korba capped off the scoring in the frame.
Medford plated a run in the fourth and tied the game at 8-8 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Snopl.
The Docs quickly responded with a run in the sixth. Paxton Burke led off with a triple and scored on a single by Logan Anderson for a 9-8 advantage. Roseburg was unable to add any insurance in the seventh as the Mustangs completed the last of three double-plays turned in the game.
Burke, Anderson and Korba led the Docs with two hits each. Medford had seven players with multiple hits in the game, led by Patereau who was 4-for-4 with two RBIs.
Game 2 was delayed due to an issue with one of the umpires, but finally got started under the lights at Harry and David Field.
Roseburg took a 1-0 lead in the second inning on a single by Amos Bowers. That was still the score in the top of the third when the power went out and the game was stalled.
The teams will need to make-up the league matchup, but a time and date has not been set, as of yet.
First Game
Roseburg;120;501;0;—;9;9;4
Medford;510;110;2;—;10;18;4
Wertz, Coate (5) and Young; Sickler, Robertson (6) and Douglas. W — Robertson. L — Coate (2-1). 2B — Petterson (M), S. McFall (M), Robertson (M), Patereau (M). 3B — Burke (R), Korba (R), Rountree (M). HR — Petterson (M).
