The Montana champions use a 3-run sixth inning to edge Medford on Day 2 of the tournament
Medford found itself in a precarious position Thursday night and with victory still in sight, it all fell apart late against the Billings Royals on Day 2 of the American Legion AAA Northwest Regional at Hladky Memorial Stadium in Gillette, Wyoming .
Living dangerously for most of the winners’ affair, the Mustangs saw their 3-2 lead evaporate in the sixth inning as the Montana state champions scored three runs to get a 5-3 win.
The loss snapped an 11-game winning streak for the Oregon state champions and sent Medford (38-8) to the loser’s bracket, where it will face Alaska’s Eagle River at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon in an elimination game. Eagle River won 3-2 over Colorado state champion Fort Collins earlier Thursday.
“You have to hand it to Billings for doing what they did as far as the takeover,” Mustangs manager Nate Mayben said. “We did some things we haven’t done all year on the basepaths and gave up too many free bases, and that’s what happens.”
Medford’s pitchers walked five and did not record a single strikeout, while Billings outhit the Mustangs, 9-7, and was able to get through seven innings on just 94 pitches between starter Reagan Walker and reliever Hunter Hunter Eliason.
“It wasn’t a very good game from us,” Mayben said. “Our approaches at the plate weren’t great, we got a lot of balls out, but Billings made us do it, so you’ve got to hand it to them.”
The Mustangs were able to get to Walker in the top of the first inning behind an RBI single by Jace Miller, who finished 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.
The Royals answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning, but the damage was limited thanks to a nice layup from left fielder Aiden Horsley to shortstop Frankie Rutigliano and finally to catcher Jeremiah Robbins, who made a quick tag on the dish to finish the entry.
The second inning also featured a nice load pick and a throw from third baseman Miller to a stretching Tanner Douglas at first base for the final out to strand two runners.
“We got out of a lot of situations that we put ourselves in where they didn’t score runs or they only got one run,” Mayben said, “but they certainly had good opportunities to score.”
A leadoff single by Borraggine and a double by Cameron Sewell provided a promising start to the fifth inning for the Mustangs, but it was soon undone when Douglas fell to first base, freezing Borraggine at third, and Sewell was scored by a double play later. gets too far from second base.
Miller, however, made sure his team didn’t come up completely empty and followed with a clutch RBI double to give Medford a 2-1 lead. After Horsley was hit by a pitch, Robbins delivered another key effort with an RBI single to center field to make it 3-1.
Billings loaded the bases in the fifth and Medford was fortunate to get out of the frame with just one run allowed, but the Mustangs weren’t so lucky in the sixth.
Jaiden Turner, the No. 8 hitter in the Royals’ lineup, led off the sixth with a double against reliever Beau Aldrich. Billings’ hopes of advancing Turner to third on a sacrifice bunt by Carter Venable appeared to be dashed when the ball bounced right back to Aldrich. The pitcher quickly turned to third base and likely would have thrown out the lead runner had his throw not gotten ahead of Miller, allowing Turner to score the tying run and Venable into scoring position at second base.
“Obviously, that would have shifted some momentum,” Mayben said of the lone error of the night for Medford.
Douglas came on in relief to try to minimize the damage, and second baseman Johnny King made a nice play throwing the lead runner home, but Billings was able to finally load the bases and used a sacrifice fly and double to center field to build a 5-3 cushion.
Julius Bolstad recorded the final out of the frame after Douglas was pulled to keep him available to pitch on Friday.
Facing a last-ditch effort in the seventh inning against Eliason, Medford got two quick outs and a strikeout to end the game.
With this being a double-elimination tournament, the Mustangs still have hopes for a possible sixth region crown in program history, and that was the thought Mayben left his team on Thursday night .
“We just have to win four games in a row here,” he said. “We have to start a new streak and fight every game and every inning.”
Medford Mustangs 1000200—371
Billings Royals100013x—592
Thompson, Aldrich (3), Douglas (6), Bolstad (6) and Robbins; Walker, Eliason (7) and Keith. W – Walker. L – Douglas. 2B — M: Sewell, Miller; B: West 2, Turner.
Contact sports editor Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, khenry@rosebudmedia.com or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry
Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Medford Mustangs center fielder Cody Borraggine had two of his team’s seven hits in a 5-3 loss to Billings of Montana in the American Legion AAA Northwest Regional in Gillette, Wyoming on Thursday.
