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By Kris Henry Mail Tribune August 21. 2015 7:42PM Run to remember Micah Brown led Medford with a .434 batting average and 63 runs scored to go with 19 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 48 RBIs. Brown’s .469 batting average over the regional and World Series tournaments ranked second overall and his .571 on-base percentage was second to none. PHOTO BY CLAY LOMNETH Sometimes you just know when you have something special. When the Medford Mustangs wrapped up tryouts and embarked on their season in June, there was no disguising the fact that all involved believed it could be a summer to remember. Still, they had no idea how far the American Legion season would take them. After earning a 13th state championship, fifth Northwest Regional title and coming within two outs of vying for a national championship, it’s still hard to put into words what this summer meant for the Mustangs players and coaches. “I’m never going to forget this,” Mustangs pitcher Cody Coggins said Friday. “It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball, especially that last month even with being on the road for that long. It was a definitely an accomplishment, even if we didn’t win it all.” Medford held a 3-2 advantage against Chapin-Newberry of South Carolina during Monday’s semifinals at the American Legion World Series with one out in the ninth inning before giving up a two-run rally that eliminated the Mustangs (45-14) from title contention. South Carolina (32-1) went on to beat Retif Oil of New Orleans (35-8), 9-2, in Tuesday’s championship. “It didn’t matter who won that thing,” Mustangs manager Nate Mayben said of being eliminated by the eventual champion. “We knew we had a chance to win the whole thing anyways so that didn’t make us go, ‘Oh man, we could’ve won this thing if we won that game.’ I have a lot of respect for both teams that played in that championship, though, because they played the game the right way and had really good coaching staffs so I’m happy for both teams.” That said, coming so close to earning a national title and falling short did carry an initial sting for the Mustangs. “I’m over it at this point,” said Coggins, “but the first couple days it was really frustrating being that close and not quite getting there. I think if we won that game we would’ve had a real good shot at the championship, but we did everything we could. It’s kind of how baseball goes, it’s a really cruel game.” Amid the cruelty, however, there was at least one undeniable bright spot to reaching the final site in Shelby, N.C., and that was allowing outgoing Mustangs General Manager Don Schneider an opportunity to exit on top. “It was a great way to go out,” said Schneider, who joined the Mustangs in 1986 and took over as GM in 1989. “June 1 I knew we’d be good but I couldn’t dream of getting to the World Series like we did. The truth is we were the best team there, too, it’s not sour grapes.” It went largely unsaid, but it was clear to anyone around the program how important it was for this year’s group to give Schneider a fitting farewell. “We didn’t mention it a whole lot because I don’t think Don would’ve wanted us to mention it,” said Mayben, “but I know when we won the regionals, every single kid walked over and gave Don a hug. That just tells you right there that they knew that this was something special for Don and they wanted to get Don back to another World Series.” “To be able to hang out with Don for a week in Shelby, N.C., I felt like was just an honor,” added Mayben, a former Mustang player himself. Medford’s tremendous pitching staff paved the way for a bulk of the team’s success, with the Mustangs posting the second-best single-season team ERA in program history at 2.06. The 1980 crew holds the record (2.01). Chief among those contributors was Cascade Christian High graduate Cody Coggins, who established a new single-season record with his 0.84 ERA to edge Scott Lewis (0.95 ERA in 1984). “It’s cool to be able to be recognized like that in a program that has so much tradition,” said Coggins, who will next play baseball at Simpson University. “I know I couldn’t have done that without the defense we all had behind us. There were tons of plays made, especially in the outfield, to make sure a lot of those balls weren’t hits. It was a team effort every time I went out on the mound and I was just happy to be part of it. (Mustangs) record or not, I was just happy to be competing with my buddies, it was a lot of fun.” Coggins finished with an 11-0 record, posting 73 strikeouts in 75⅔ innings with only 41 hits allowed. He was complemented by extraordinary work by Aaron Hutchinson (8-0, 1.37 ERA), Jordan Ragan (8-1, 1.51 ERA, 84 strikeouts in 74 innings), Colton Westfall (5-2, 1.88 ERA), Will Weaver (5-3, 2.51 ERA, four saves), Micah Brown (2-2, 2.65 ERA, four saves) and Steen Fredrickson (5-4, 3.48 ERA). Ragan earned the Bob Feller Award for posting the most strikeouts in the regional and World Series tournaments with 23 strikeouts in three appearances (23⅓ innings). He struck out 84 in 74 innings overall to help Medford finish with a second-best 1.71 ERA over the final two tournaments. “We have excellent pitchers but even with great pitching,” said Mayben, “to do what we did all season long and be that consistent, I don’t have an explanation for it really. To be able to go into regionals and then the World Series and lower your team ERA, that’s insane … that’s not supposed to happen.” “I think they fed off each other and they’re all really competitive,” he added. “They wanted to support one guy and then they felt like, OK, now it’s my time to go out and do it. I don’t know if we’ll ever have anything like that again to have six guys I felt like we could throw out anytime. I don’t know if you ever duplicate that.” Offensively, the veteran shortstop Brown helped spearhead a lineup that saw every batter hitting over .300 entering the World Series and come up clutch at some point to keep Medford rolling this summer. “I think when I look back, the best part was everybody being able to contribute,” said Coggins. “No matter who it was, at some point they came through with a clutch hit or a clutch pitching performance to keep us going.” Brown was steady throughout and took his game to another level when it came to the postseason. He led Medford with a .434 batting average and 63 runs scored to go with 19 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 48 RBIs. Brown’s .469 batting average over the regional and World Series tournaments ranked second overall and his .571 on-base percentage was second to none. Defensively, Brown was also a highlight reel in his return to shortstop after a few weeks in center field, making it on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays for a diving stop and assist from his knees against South Carolina. “It was impressive the way he played shortstop and the way he swung the bat for us in North Carolina,” said Mayben. “The guy got on ESPN one day and should’ve gotten on another day with that diving catch against Hawaii. He also made a barehanded play to start the whole series off in the first game. To have him step it up defensively and lead the way at the plate for us, that’s what we expected out of Micah and it was just a lot of fun to watch.” Left fielder Bryce Rogan was named to the World Series All-Academic Team and was second on the team with a .408 batting average to go with a team-best 60 RBIs. Rogan’s nine RBIs in the final two tournaments tied him for fifth overall. Right fielder Jared Evans batted .327 with 52 runs and a team-best 20 stolen bases, while catcher Austin Zavala (.338, 36 RBIs in 51 games) tied for third with his 10 RBIs in the regional and World Series tournaments. First baseman Eric Carlson (.314), third baseman Westfall (.329), designated hitter Fredrickson (.310), center fielder/shortstop Cole Carder (.347, 34 RBIs, 36 runs) and second baseman Tate Cowden (.298, 55 runs) helped push the team batting average to .335 overall. Off this year’s roster, Brown, Rogan, Zavala, Carlson, Westfall, Coggins and Fredrickson are ineligible to return next summer. Still, Mayben has high hopes for another special summer in 2016. “It’s going to hurt losing those guys but at the same time, we’ve got about seven or eight pieces coming back that we’ll just have to reload with,” said the manager. “The thing about us is we draw from great high schools and great coaches in those high schools so we’re always going to have talent because of that. Our goal is always going to be winning a state championship. I think we’ll have the pieces to do it, it just will be with a lot of newer guys next year.” Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150821/SPORTS/150829866 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->