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Mustangs advance at state with no-hitter By Kris Henry Updated: Jul 24, 2022 09:33 PM A A Borraggine perfect through 16 batters, Thompson caps effort as Medford tames Roseburg Cody Borraggine was perfect and Medford’s record against Roseburg remained similarly unblemished as the Mustangs dominated on Day 2 of the American Legion AAA state tournament at Legion Field. Borraggine retired all 16 batters he faced — striking out nine — before exiting with a perfect game in the bottom of the sixth inning to preserve his opportunity to pitch again in the tournament. Owen Thompson came on in relief and hit a batter and walked another but Medford was still able to post a combined no-hitter in securing a 6-0 victory over Dr. Stewart’s, the tournament host, in a contest that lasted about 80 minutes Sunday. “That was an incredible job by Cody,” said Mustangs manager Nate Mayben. “He was phenomenal, and just dialed in strike after strike. We were able to get him out at 60 and that was big for us; Cody came up huge.” Medford (34-7) had entered the game with a 7-0 record this summer against Roseburg (21-18), outscoring the Docs 72-18 in those games. The Mustangs wasted no time in showing their Area 4 rivals that they would again have their hands full by scoring a pair of runs in the first and second innings for a 4-0 edge. Roseburg committed two errors and Medford made the most of three hits to get the job done. “They helped us a little bit and they made some errors,” said Mayben, “but being able to get those first two in any game, especially in a state tournament game, is huge. To start off 2-0 and then put two more up in the top of the second obviously helps a lot and calms some nerves down.” Just the first run, scored by Borraggine after some heads up running in the first, would be more than enough for the left-hander on this night. The North Medford High product was efficient in mowing down Roseburg in succession, needing only 55 pitches to get through five innings and threw 42 strikes in his 60 pitches overall before being replaced by Thompson. “I’ve never seen a guy go 6 1/3 and only throw 60 pitches,” said Mayben. “That was incredible. He used his fastball a lot and just threw fastballs in the zone, and we made some great plays behind him, too, to help out. He was just efficient.” So efficient that, even though there was a pregame discussion of getting Borraggine out before he reached his pitch count limit and could not potentially return Wednesday, Mayben had to do a double-take in the dugout. “I looked at John King, our assistant coach, and I said, “Am I crazy?” said Mayben of the pitching move. “He told me I wasn’t, so we did it.” Thompson hit Eli Jacobs with his first pitch in relief to give Roseburg its first baserunner of the game, but the Mustangs were still able to preserve their standard of sending the Docs down in order — with Borraggine again playing a vital role. Jacobs stole second base and tried to get to third when the ball got into center field, but that’s where Borraggine was positioned after the rotation and he threw a strike — go figure — to third baseman Jace Miller for the second out of the sixth. Thompson then induced a groundout in the sixth to get it at 18 Roseburg batters up and 18 down. “Our pitching staff was been really efficient all summer long and we’ve got six guys that I feel like I can trust to throw strikes,” said Mayben. “We have faith in all of them and that’s really nice. Being able to trust Owen in that situation, and at the time it was only a four-run lead so that’s not a huge lead, was nice. Owen did a great job.” Miller and Aiden Horsley each supplied RBI singles in the top of the seventh to create even more breathing room and, after a leadoff walk drawn by Austin Takahashi, Thompson recorded the final three outs to cap off the no-hitter. Borraggine, Tanner Douglas and Horsley each had two hits to lead the Mustangs, with Horsley driving in two runs and Douglas plating one. Cameron Sewell scored twice, and it was Frankie Rutigliano’s one-out double in the second that allowed Medford to build on its first-inning success. Medford moves on to face the Hillsboro Barbers (32-8-1) at 7 p.m. Monday in a meeting of the only unbeaten teams left in the tournament. Hillsboro used a run-scoring balk in the first inning to edge the Salem Withnell Dodgers, 1-0, in Sunday’s other championship bracket affair. “That will be a good one,” Mayben said of a matchup with the Barbers. “It’s going to be tough, it’s going to be a battle.” In last year’s state tournament, Borraggine twice was the winning pitcher against Hillsboro, eliminating the Barbers from title contention with his second gem of the week on the final day. The Mustangs went on to fall in the championship finale to Eugene and missed their chance at a potential seventh straight state title. The winner of Monday’s showdown will automatically secure a spot in Wednesday’s championship game. In other results Sunday, the Emerald Challengers of Eugene/Springfield eliminated the Stayton Canyon Crushers with a 13-3 win in six innings and the Sherwood Lobos eliminated the Beaverton Sockeyes, 8-6 in nine innings. On Monday, Sherwood and Salem play in an elimination game at 1 p.m., and Roseburg and Emerald will do likewise in an Area 4 battle at 4 p.m. Medford Mustangs2200002—690 Roseburg Dr. Stewart’s0000000—003 Borraggine, Thompson (6) and Robbins; Takahashi, J. Johnson (7) and Hubbard. W — Borraggine (5-2). L — Takahashi. 2B — M: Rutigliano. Have a local story idea? Reach sports editor Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry Andy Atkinson / Mail TribuneMedford's Cody Borraggine, shown speaking earlier this week with Mustangs coaches Nate Mayben and John King, was perfect through 16 batters to lead his team Sunday.