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Empio's gem helps Mustangs gain victory PORTLAND - Chris Empio fired a five-inning no-hitter to pace the Medford Mustangs to a 10-0 American Legion baseball victory over the Wilson Alpenrose Red Sox on Wednesday. Later in the day, the Mustangs won their 10th game in a row with a 13-2 win over North Marion. The pair of victories improved the Mustangs' record to 23-13. Empio struck out 10 and walked three as he raised his record to 5-2. The 6-foot-4, 202-pound right-hander walked the bases loaded in the first inning but struck out Eric Carlstadt to end the inning. Evan McArthur hit a two-run double in a three-run third inning that broke the scoring ice for the Mustangs. Phil Ouellette doubled to begin the inning and scored on Tony Conklin's single. After an infield single by Shawn Backstrom, McArthur doubled to left-center, scoring Conklin and Backstrom. Medford scored another run in the fourth and then blew the game open in the fifth with six runs on seven hits. Ouellette's two-run double was the big blow. Conklin went 3-for-4 to fuel the Mustangs' 13-hit attack against Wilson pitcher Shane Lopez-Johnson, who is considered one of the better pitchers in the state. In the win over North Marion, Ouellette hit a grand slam that capped a nine-run fifth inning. Tony Conklin clubbed a 2-run homer in the third inning and Matt Skundrick contributed a solo blast in the fourth. Ouellette finished the game 3-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs. Conklin, Skundrick and Rob Folsom each went 2-for-3 and scored twice. Dustin Butler pitched a complete game for Medford and improved his record to 2-0. Medford ................................................. 003 16 - 10 13 1 Wilson........................................................ 000 00 - 0 0 2 Empio and Folsom; Lopez-Johnson and Nokata. W - Empio (5-2). L - Lopez-Johnson. 2B - M: Ouellette, Dunlap, McArthur. Medford...................................................102 19 - 13 10 0 North Marion.............................................001 10 - 2 5 3 Butler and Folsom; Goff, Jackson (5) and Lambert. W - Butler (2-0. L - Goff. 2B - NM: Jones, Goff. HR - NM: Kelleher. M: Ouellette (3), Conklin (3), Skundrick (3). CHURCHILL LANCERS 6-1, NORTH MEDFORD STALLIONS 3-9 - Churchill handed North Medford its first Eugene District League loss in Junior State Baseball at North Medford High. The Lancers moved into a district tie with North at 4-1. Both teams have three league games remaining. The second game of the doubleheader does not count in the district standings. In the opener, North Medford (17-6) committed all three of its errors in a Lancers' four-run sixth inning that gave Churchill a 6-0 lead. Kyle Williamson delivered a three-run triple for the Stallions in the seventh. Derek Martin led North with two hits in Game 1. In the second game, three North Medford pitchers limited Churchill to three hits. North's Cole Rohrbaugh was particularly effective, finishing the game with three shutout innings. Paul LeCroy accounted for three of North Medford's 13 hits in the nightcap. Williamson, Ben Running, Martin and David Soria chipped in two hits each. FIRST GAME Churchill Lancers............................001 014 0 - 6 9 3 North Medford Stallions..................000 000 3 - 3 6 3 Brown and Janin; White, Barry (6) and Card. W - Brown. L - White. 2B - C: Brown. 3B - NM: Williamson. SECOND GAME Churchill Lancers............................010 000 0 - 1 3 3 North Medford Stallions.................223 101 x - 9 13 2 Lindroy, Powell (5), Bennett (6) and Bradley; Soria, Williamson (3), Rohrbaugh (5) and Running. W - Williamson. L - Lindroy. 2B - C: Brown; NM: Martin, Running, White. 3B - NM: Williamson. MEDFORD NATIONALS WIN DISTRICT - At Rogue River, the Medford National Gold 9-10-year-old boys took the hard path in winning the District 8 Little League championship Wednesday at Rogue River High. Medford lost its first game in the double-elimination tournament to Roseburg, then came back with seven straight victories to win the championship. The Nationals finished their run to the title with a 16-4 victory over the Grants Pass Nationals in five innings due to the 10-run mercy rule. Medford downed previously unbeaten Grants Pass 14-13 earlier Wednesday in a game that was continued from Tuesday when the teams were tied 13-all after six innings. In the final game, Medford erased a 1-0 deficit with eight runs in the second inning. The Gold took advantage of five walks and an error to go with three singles. Isaac Rolie relieved Medford starting pitcher Jared Hess in the second inning and blanked Grants Pass the rest of the way. Hess, Medford's leadoff hitter, sparked the offense with two hits, two walks, five RBIs and three runs. In the earlier game Wednesday, Michael Williamson's RBI single scored Chad Johnson with the winning run in the ninth inning. Steven Pirrello pitched the final five innings for the victory. Other players on the Medford National Gold are Maxwell Britton, Jason Eld, Mathew Gardner, Michael Roderick, Patrick Thibeault, Matt Shanahan and Bo Walker. Medford National Gold.....................080 17 - 16 8 1 Grants Pass Nationals......................130 00 - 4 3 4 Hess, Rolie (2) and Britton; Montgomery and Moore. W - Rolie. L - Montgomery. 2B - M: Hess. HR - GP: Moore. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.