Document text
Allen uses bat, arm to power Mustangs By Tim Pyle For The Tidings Q: Who will replace Matt Skundrick as pitching ace and cleanup hitter for the Medford Mustangs this summer? A: Mike Allen. Next question, please. Queries were few and far between for the Mustangs, defending state and regional champions, entering the 2003 American Legion AAA baseball campaign. Probably the biggest one has already been answered. Allen, a 2002 Ashland High graduate, affirmed his status as Skundrick's successor Tuesday night, propelling Medford to a 4-2, 13-2 sweep over Grants Pass at Miles Field. In Game 1 of the Area 4 doubleheader, Allen used his powerful right arm to hurl a three-hitter and unleashed his wicked bat for two doubles in three at-bats. He struck out 10 and allowed just one earned run, working around an uncharacteristic three Medford errors. Offensively, he scored two runs and drove in one. Game 2 featured more of the same from the 6-foot-4, 205-pounder at the plate, as he drilled three hits - including another double - in three at-bats, scored once and notched an RBI in the five-inning affair. That kind of production was something Skundrick, now with the Southern Oregon RiverDogs, provided on a regular basis during the Mustangs' ride to the Legion AAA World Series a summer ago. "Skundrick is a great player, so that's a big hole that he left," said Allen, fresh off his freshman season with Willamette University's NCAA Division III program in Salem. "So I'm just trying my best to fill that. This is a great team, and I'm just glad to be a part of it." Likewise, Medford (11-0, 2-0 Area 4) is ecstatic to have Allen in the fold. "It was good to be able to bring somebody in that can fill that No. 1 (pitching) role," said Mustangs manager Sandee Kensinger. "And he brings a great bat, too." Allen, who started every game in either the outfield or on the mound for Willamette as a freshman, became eligible to play for Medford when the enrollment pool for AAA teams expanded from 4,000 to 5,000 and the age limit went from 18 to 19. Those changes allowed the Mustangs to incorporate Ashland into their area and nab the 19-year-old Allen. Still, the former two-time Southern Oregon Conference first-team selection considered joining the RiverDogs this summer. But Kensinger made sure he got his man. "I kept up with what he was doing up at Willamette, and he just tore it up," Kensinger said. "I had my wolves out on him. My former players - Kenny Halpin was one who was playing up there at Willamette with him, and some of the Western Baptist guys - talked to Mike and told him what we're all about." Allen (2-0) showed he was worth the recruitment efforts Tuesday by mixing superbly controlled offspeed pitches with a popping fastball. He didn't walk a batter and went to a three-ball count just twice. "After the college season, I took a couple three weeks off and got out of rhythm a little bit," said Allen, who played for a Seattle-area Connie Mack team last summer. "Took a little break. But it came together tonight. My changeup was working, and I felt like I was throwing pretty hard." In support of their ace, the Mustangs laced nine hits, with second baseman Ryan Heil and first baseman Dustin Butler ripping two in addition to Allen. Butler knocked in three runs. After a three-run first inning, Matt Rettke (0-1) settled down to keep the Nuggets (3-2, 0-2) in contention in the opener. He worked four scoreless frames until allowing the fourth run in the sixth and finished with a walk and two strikeouts. The nightcap was ugly for Grants Pass from the start, as a three-error sequence in the first inning put Medford on top to stay. Left-hander Brady Rhodes (3-0) took advantage of the Mustangs' offensive outburst with 51/3 innings of three-hit work. Shortstop Evan McArthur was 3-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs, and catcher Rob Folsom and center fielder Reese Lamson added two hits apiece to the Mustangs' 14-hit total. Pacing the Nuggets' night were two-hit performances by catcher/outfielder Speedy Ortiz, right fielder Ariah Nead and third baseman Matt Frederick. "Those were the first errors we've made all year," Grants Pass manager John White said of a six-error nightmare in Game 2. "We made three on one play in the first, and it was all downhill from there." Medford's Area 4 schedule doesn't resume until June 21 at home against Klamath Falls, but the Mustangs play at Klamath in a non-conference tilt at 7 p.m. tonight. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -