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AMERICAN LEGION Stingy Mustangs Medford rides strong Hutchinson effort to post first shutout Comment By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Jun. 10, 2016 at 2:00 AM By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Jun. 10, 2016 at 2:00 AM --> Mustangs 8, Falcons 0 RECAP: Medford starter Aaron Hutchinson allows three hits with six strikeouts and two walks in eight innings to deny Klamath Falls in nonleague play. » Read more X Mustangs 8, Falcons 0 RECAP: Medford starter Aaron Hutchinson allows three hits with six strikeouts and two walks in eight innings to deny Klamath Falls in nonleague play. UP NEXT: Today, 7 p.m., Medford Mustangs at Grants Pass Nuggets. » Social News One year ago, Phoenix’s Aaron Hutchinson had the benefit of joining a veteran Medford Mustangs squad loaded with top-tier pitching and experience at the American Legion baseball level. Hutchinson more than carried his weight in his debut summer with the Mustangs, posting a 6-0 record and 1.37 ERA for a team that came within two outs of playing for the national championship. This season, Hutchinson finds himself as one of only a handful of holdovers with a different level of responsibility on his shoulders and, on Thursday, he showed that he’s more than capable of handling his heightened role on the mound. The right-handed pitcher limited Klamath Falls to three hits with six strikeouts and two walks in eight innings to help Medford score its first shutout of the season, 8-0 over the Falcons at Harry & David Field. The Mustangs (4-3) will next play at the Grants Pass Nuggets (0-1) at 7 tonight. Medford rallied to beat Grants Pass, 6-4, on Wednesday. “I think this is a big thing for us putting up a shutout,” said Hutchinson. “It’s going to give us a lot of confidence and get things rolling a little bit. We’re starting to come together more as a team and the bats are starting to come around and I feel like these new guys are starting to get an idea of what it’s like to be out here. It’s not high school anymore, it’s a little bit more serious and they’re getting more into the game and learning more and they’re just executing well.” The difference was night and day from Medford’s 18-14 comeback win over Klamath Falls on Tuesday, and Hutchinson provided the key influence in that turnaround. He allowed only five batters over the minimum in eight innings and was backed by a steady defense that committed only one throwing error. “The first five innings in the first game over there we walked a bunch of guys and weren’t up in the count and were leaving balls up,” said Mustangs manager Nate Mayben. “Then you get a guy that comes out and throws strikes, throws at the knees and hits the corners … that’s the difference between giving up 14 runs and giving up none.” Familiarity with a bulk of the Falcons’ lineup proved helpful, according to Hutchinson, as well as a game plan built on keeping his pitch count low. “I just really had an approach of just trying to get groundballs and trusting my defense,” said Hutchinson, who allowed one run in 6⅔ innings in his only other stint this summer. “I wasn’t trying to strike people out, I just tried to mix it up on them. I just kept them on their front foot and kept them off-balance and let my defense go to work.” The Mustangs didn’t wait long to give Hutchinson some support, scoring three runs with a little help from the Falcons (0-2) in the bottom of the third inning to pave the way for an early lead. Tate Cowden set the big inning up with a one-out walk and moved to third base when Greyson Wolff’s fly ball to centerfield was dropped by Hunter Rasica for a two-base error. Both runners scored soon after when Nick Sanderson’s grounder to second baseman JT Overstreet ricocheted off his glove and into centerfield. After Kasey Buchanan was hit by a pitch and one out was recorded, Ethan Whitney ripped an RBI double down the third-base line for a 3-0 advantage. “That’s the thing we need to work on as a team,” said Mayben. “The first five or six games we’ve had we’re not getting the ball on the ground hard. We’ll get the ball on the ground occasionally but it won’t be hard or we’ll pop it up. The success of this team offensively will be just getting that ball on the ground hard and taking advantage of mistakes when they happen, and that’s what we did today.” The Mustangs tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings, with Berry Hunt scoring on a groundout by Jose Perez in the fourth after some heady baserunning and Sanderson doubling and scoring on a groundout by Cole Carder in the fifth. Medford broke the game wide open with three more runs in the seventh for an 8-0 lead, with Buchanan scoring on an error off a Whitney grounder and Hunt supplying a two-run double down the third-base line to score Whitney and Jaylin Parnell. James Turnbull came on in relief of Hutchinson in the ninth and posted two quick groundouts to Whitney at third base before the Falcons were able to load the bases with two singles and a walk. Undeterred, Turnbull induced a groundout to shortstop Perez to close the contest. Sanderson finished 2-for-5 with two runs and one RBI, while Whitney was 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI and Hunt 2-for-4 with one run and two RBIs. Klamath Falls;000;000;000;—;0;5;5 Medford;003;110;30x;—;8;8;1 Ha. Rasica, He. Rasica (5), Tron (8) and Brown, Hamilton (6); Hutchinson, Turnbull (9) and Mahoney. W — Hutchinson (1-0). L — Ha. Rasica (0-1). 2B — M: Whitney, Sanderson, Hunt. Reach reporter Kris Henry at 541-776-4488, [email protected], www.facebook.com/krishenryMT or www.twitter.com/Kris_Henry By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry MailTribune.com By Kris Henry Mail Tribune Follow @@Kris_Henry Posted Jun. 10, 2016 at 2:00 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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