After playing a tougher schedule in 2022, Medford skipper Bill Rowe feels his program is on the right track.
As Medford Rogues coach Bill Rowe looks forward to his first postseason fishing trip, it’s given him a chance to reflect on a summer campaign that ended over the weekend past
He summed it up in two different words.
“Very promising,” said Rowe, who just finished his third season at the helm.
There is, of course, more to it than that.
And after a two-month sprint that is always the summer collegiate baseball season, there is much to ponder following an independent schedule that featured greater competition and tighter games.
“It was more exciting for everybody,” Rowe said. “The batting quality of our athletes went up and the high-pressure situations for our pitchers went up, so from a coach’s standpoint and a players’ standpoint it was really, really amazing.”
A higher level of competition is what Rowe and Rogues owners Dave and Tabitha May set out to achieve by the summer of 2022.
Not only was there a desire for better opponents, but for better games overall, which would drive player development in Medford this summer as well as an effort to attract quality talent in the following seasons.
The Rogues’ 25-16-1 record this summer was an eight-win drop from last year’s 33-11 team, one that included a franchise-record 21-3 start.
But Rowe was quick to attribute that to a tougher schedule, with late-season opponents like the Lincoln Potters and Humboldt Crabs offering something a little different compared to some of last year’s opposition.
“The quality of baseball was higher for everyone,” Rowe said. “I think we played better baseball, our players worked really hard and I think the competition we faced was better. I think that’s what’s going to happen, and when you look back at how many baseball games a run there was, I think going into those games and knowing what kind of opportunities we had our record could have been a little bit better.
“That’s only going to happen in baseball, though, and in close games.”
Not all of those one-run games went Medford’s way, especially during the month of June when Rowe and his club hovered around .500.
But it was the last 15 games where things started to click for the Rogues, according to Rowe.
“Just learning how to finish a game and not let the energy go down and try to play a full game of nine innings of quality ball instead of letting the energy lag in any part of the game,” Rowe said of the that changed for his team. “Guys always got along, but sometimes it can be hard to turn adversity into motivation to get better and want to win more instead of getting down on bad calls by a referee or turning it into trash talking to the other team. Really trying to get that mental shift in guys’ brains is the one thing we really pushed harder all summer.”
The Rogues finished the season on a seven-game winning streak, sweeping their season-ending homestand and giving the players a high note going forward.
That was especially true of last Saturday’s season finale, when infielder Emiliano Alarcon made the rounds on the diamond while playing one inning at each position, the last of which came on the mound in getting the final out and the stoppage in an 11-8. win over TKB Baseball.
There was, however, a bit of a tightrope to walk with the game tied at 8 all late. The Rogues were able to regain the lead, which allowed Rowe and assistant coach Parker Berberet to feel a little more comfortable that they could get Alarcon to come in to pitch.
“We did really well to get him at that time,” Rowe said. “Parker and I hadn’t won the game to end the season in our previous two seasons and that’s on our minds, but we don’t tell the players because we want it to work with Emiliano. We don’t want to care if we lose at a time like that because it’s bigger than baseball, but at the same time you want your topping and you want your cake, you want the cherry on top and you want everything. We had it all that night and it was very special.”
Alarcón, one of 10 returnees from the 2021 roster, finished with the second-highest batting average on the team, hitting .341 in 33 games this summer. It was an 80-point improvement over his .261 batting average from a year ago.
Rogues outfielder Reece MacRae finished as the team leader in hitting, posting a .347 batting average in 34 games. He also led the team in hits, with 43 in 124 at-bats, and runs with 28. Alarcon was second with 42 hits.
Outfielders CJ Colyer and Ben Pajak, who joined the Rogues in midsummer, hit a team-high four homers. Colyer also finished as the team leader in RBIs with 29.
As a team, the Rogues hit .287.
“A lot of growth and a lot of growth from guys who weren’t necessarily changing their mechanics, but just getting deeper into an approach,” Rowe said. “I know a lot of our hitters felt they got better over the summer, which doesn’t always happen when you’re playing summer ball.”
In terms of pitching, there were times this summer when it was a struggle. Rowe won’t deny that, with the Rogues’ final team ERA of 3.94 very representative of that.
The Rogues, however, finished the season with 10 straight games of double-digit strikeout totals, including a whopping 18 at the end of the season.
Adam Shew (3-3, 3.48 ERA) and Eamon Velarde (3-0, 2.85) started a team-high nine games and pitched at least 41 innings.
“It was nice to have certain guys help us throughout the season and in key roles,” Rowe said of his pitching staff. “Very tough performances from the players and especially when it was so easy for the kids to walk away and leave in the summer when the slightest pressure hit them.”
Finishing the summer strong was important for Rowe’s team because it was a reflection of their growth as a team, he said.
He hopes it’s this type of environment that can be replicated in the coming summers.
“Super promising and I’m excited for the next few years,” Rowe said. “It was great to see the guys that stayed and to see how much they cared about each other and how much they really pulled for each other at the end. I think the tighter the bond you can create and the more familiar it is culture, better results you can get from the players.”
Contact reporter Danny Penza at 541-776-4469 or dpenza@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @penzatopaper.
Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune Medford Rogues shortstop Tyler Peterson throws a home run against the Utah Marshalls at Harry & David Field last season.
