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72 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, August 30, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 5, 2004 Medford�s Dan Chancler comes up with a sliding catch to deny McMinnville of a scoring opportunity in Wednesday�s opener of the American Legion State Tournament in Grants Pass. The Mustangs advance to play Grants Pass tonight at 8 at Riverside West All Sp Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Mustangs edge McMinnville Medford wins despite yielding eight runs in eighth inning in wild state opener By KRIS HENRY Mail Tribune GRANTS PASS — Sometimes hitting rock bottom isn’t all that bad since it leaves you nowhere to go but up. The Medford Mustangs found themselves in that situation Wednesday afternoon after fumbling away a five-run lead to McMinnville Colvin Auto in the top of the eighth inning at the American Legion AAA state tournament. McMinnville scored eight runs in a head-shaking frame that featured two infield singles, two botched fly balls and a capping three-run home run by catcher Travis Carver to straightaway center field at Riverside West All Sports Park. Suddenly faced with a 10-7 deficit in a game they previously had dominated, the stunned Mustangs did the only thing they could do by digging in and climbing back into title contention with an 11- 10, first-round victory in the double-elimination tourney. "What a circus," Medford catcher Rob Folsom said of the crazy eighth. "You just can’t ease up against teams at a state tournament, especially a team that can swat it like they can." Advertisement Medford (31-13) advances to play Grants Pass (24-20) at 8 tonight, while McMinnville (32-7) plays in a noon elimination game today against Southridge Dr. Barneys (44-7). Grants Pass beat Southridge, 4-3, in Wednesday’s late game. McMinnville reliever Joel Paul opened the door for Medford’s eighth-inning rally by plunking leadoff batter Corey O’Neill and then giving up a single to Dan Chancler. Paul was then pulled for left-handed ace Joe Paterson to face Folsom, but he promptly walked the Oregon State freshman-to-be on five pitches to load the bases. Shrugging off the lefty-on-lefty scenario, Mustang first baseman Chad Hegdahl then belted a two-run double over the outstretched glove of left fielder Evan Roemmick at the warning track. The bases cleared and Hegdahl advanced to third when the relay throw from shortstop Daniel Turpen sailed over Carver’s head at home. "I knew he was going to throw me a fastball at 2-1," said Hegdahl, who went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs to pace Medford. "I hit it good and thought it might fall in for a double but (Roemmick) jumped up and I thought he caught it first. I’m just glad it fell in there." Abe Eubank capped the four-run rally with an RBI single for his third hit of the day. "You have to give it to Medford because they came back and hit the ball hard," said Carver, who had the first and last hit for Colvin Auto in the eighth. "They came at us with a head of steam and there was really nothing we could do about it." That feeling was in stark contrast to the mood in the McMinnville dugout following their eighth-inning outburst. "The whole time we were thinking we just took all their momentum away and took away their confidence, but that’s what’s impressive about Medford," added Carver. "They didn’t stop; they didn’t even act like they cared. They just went out and played ball and did a great job." Medford starter Josh Suarez missed out on his ninth win of the season thanks to the eighth-inning snafu, but was magnificent in keeping McMinnville at bay up to that point. "We’ll take the win but I feel bad for Josh because he threw a good ballgame and we didn’t make plays for him," said Mustangs manager Sandee Kensinger. "Fortunately, we were able to come right back at them." Suarez got the first eight Colvin batters to go down in order before an error by Brenton Ferguson on a grounder at second base kept the third inning alive. After a walk to Roemmick, Todd Peterson hit a looping RBI single over second base and Turpen followed with another RBI single to give McMinnville a 2-0 lead. The southpaw allowed only one more hit until the eighth inning, striking out three with three walks and a hit batsman in the span. Turpen, a first-team all-state pitcher also destined for Corvallis, didn’t look like he was going to need more than the two runs after striking out five of his first seven batters faced but Medford finally got to him in the third. Atoning for his error, Ferguson belted the first of his two doubles against Turpen to lead off the inning. After a one-out walk to O’Neill, Turpen looked as if he might get out of the inning unscathed by inducing a pop-up by Dan Chancler, but Folsom had other plans. The all-state catcher got ahead in the count against Turpen and then watched a 3-1 slider zip across the heart of the plate for another strike. The next pitch was a fastball, and Folsom launched it over the left-center field fence to liven up the Mustang bench and give Medford a 3-2 lead. "I was looking for that pitch 3-1 and he surprised me a little bit with a slider," said Folsom, who was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs. "When kids are throwing that hard, if you put the bat on the ball it’s going to go a long way." Folsom’s homer appeared to be a turning point for Medford, which pinned seven runs on Turpen, who left after the sixth inning. "It was definitely a much-needed hit because we hadn’t gotten anything off of (Turpen) until then," said Hegdahl. "When Rob hit that ball it really boosted our confidence and kinda relaxed everyone." For Folsom, the homer was nice but it wasn’t as pivotal as Hegdahl’s bases-clearing double. "Chad’s hit was huge," said Folsom. "He’s been there for us all year like that so it wasn’t a surprise. And Abe really came through for us, too, right after that." In Wednesday’s other games, Corvallis Richey’s Market beat Redmond AAA 14-5 and Northwest Star White Sox beat Salem Withnell Dodgers, 11-1. McMinnville......................002 000 080 — 10 10 3 Medford Mustangs..........003 130 04x — 11 12 4 Turpen, Little (7), Paul (8), Paterson (8) and Carver; Suarez, Holtz (8), Ferguson (9) and Folsom. W — Ferguson (2-0). L — Paterson. 2B — M: Ferguson 2, Behnke, Eubank, Hegdahl. HR — Mc: Carver; M: Folsom (10). Reach reporter Kris Henry at 776-4488, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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