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Miscues hurt Mustangs KLAMATH FALLS - The errant fielding that has plagued the Medford Mustangs through the first two weeks of the American Legion baseball season struck again. Whereas the past bobbles and boots were bothersome, the latest spate of errors cost the Mustangs their Area 4 league opener Wednesday night in the first game of a doubleheader at Kiger Stadium. The Klamath Falls Falcons took advantage of four Medford miscues in winning the opener 5-4 and finished off the sweep with a 5-4 come-from-behind win in the nightcap. The Mustangs fell to 4-5 overall. They play in a tournament Friday through Monday in Salem. The Falcons won the opener in the bottom of the seventh when they pushed a run home with two outs. Kirk Cunningham singled to left with one out and Jeff Mortonson followed with a bloop single to center field to put runners at first and second. One out later, P.J. Farley spanked a 1-2 pitch into the left-center gap. Klamath Falls capitalized on Mustang errors to take a 4-0 lead in the third inning. But Medford bounced back in a big way in the top of the fourth inning. Tony Conklin singled and Shawn Backstrom doubled to set the table for Evan McArthur, who launched the first pitch from Casey Norris over the 370-foot mark on left-center field fence. The Mustangs tied it in the sixth when Conklin walked, was sacrificed to second by Backstrom, advanced to third on McArthur's ground out and scored on Norris' wild pitch. Medford made a bid for the lead in the seventh when Phil Ouellette doubled and Rob Folsom scratched out an infield hit. But Matt Skundrick's fly to left was chased down by Cunningham and Norris got Conklin to pop out. Norris finished with nine strikeouts and walked three. Chris Empio struck out five and walked one, allowing just three earned runs in absorbing the loss. In the second game, Skundrick swatted a sixth-inning home run off the scoreboard in right field to give the Mustangs a 3-2 lead. Dave Henneman, who was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, doubled home McArthur to extend the lead to 4-2 in the top of the seventh. But the Falcons came back with three runs in the home half of the inning. With one out, Brian Kinsman walked. One out later, Mortonson singled to put runners at first and second. Jayson Nelson cut the deficit to one when he singled to left. The game turned on the next play. Farley grounded to shortstop and appeared to be at least a step from the bag when the throw arrived, but was called safe. With the bases loaded, Brian Stock singled back up the middle, driving in two runs to end the game. Conklin struck out nine and walked four in taking the loss. FIRST GAME Medford Mustangs .............................000 301 0 - 4 6 4 Klamath Falls.....................................004 000 1 - 5 8 1 Empio and Folsom; Norris and Nelson. W - Norris. L - Empio (1-1). 2B - M: Ouellette, Backstrom. HR - M: McArthur (2). SECOND GAME Medford Mustangs.............................. 000 021 1 - 4 6 2 Klamath Falls.......................................011 000 3 - 5 7 1 Conklin and Folsom; Fairburn, Bailey (7) and Nelson. W - Bailey. L - Conklin (1-2). 2B - M: Henneman HR - M: Skundrick (1). KF: Nelson.. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.