Document text
Medford LL team loses in regional By Chuck Hickey SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. � Fifteen batters. Ten runs. Four walks. Three hit batters. One home run. It was the half-inning nightmare Jeff Adamson and the rest of the Medford American Little League team had to endure Saturday in the Western Regional tournament as the 11- and 12-year-old baseball all-stars lost to Reno Continental of Reno, Nev., 15-5 in a game stopped after four innings because of the mercy rule. It was the second consecutive loss for Medford American, which was trying to become the first Oregon team to reach the Little League World Series at Williamsport, Pa., 42 years. Medford American drops into the fifth-place bracket and plays Ketchikan, Alaska, at 11:30 a.m. Monday. Its next loss will end its season, but to finish in fifth, Medford American would have to win every day through Thursday. Reno Continental scored 10 runs in the third inning after Medford American scored five in the top half to take a 5-3 lead. "It was just one of those games. Just one of those innings," Medford American manager Jeff Adamson said. "We had a couple of walks and then the home run, and it was only 6-5. Then we turned the double play and it looked like we were going to get out of it, then we have a couple of walks, hit three guys, and it just got out of hand, and the next thing you know, it's 13-5." Medford American lost to Hazel Dell of Vancouver, Wash., 8-2 on Thursday after taking a 2-0 lead on one of the stronger teams in the tournament. Against Reno Continental, Medford American did the same thing, scoring five runs in the third to take a 5-3 lead. Medford American batted around in the third, and got things going when John Ulrey walked and Zach James singled with one out. Jared Adamson then reached on an error, scoring Ulrey, and Tyler Heil singled to make it 3-2. Heil and Adamson then pulled a double steal that tied the game, and Tom George's fly ball was dropped by center fielder John Rice, scoring Heil to make it 4-3. A wild pitch scored George to cap the scoring. But then the roof caved in on Medford American. It started with George walking the first two batters, then Jon Lienert homered over the center-field fence to make it 6-5. After another walk, Adamson pulled George in favor of his son, Jared, who got Jeremy Joustra to hit into a double play. But Jared Adamson lost his control. He walked Matt Lawrence, then hit three consecutive batters. Rice then singled in a run, and Brennan Locker hit a grounder to shortstop Heil, who threw to second baseman James for a force play. But the umpire ruled Rice reached the base ahead of the throw and called him safe, scoring another run and prologing the inning. "I didn't see that call the same way,'' Jeff Adamson said. ``If we get that call, it's only 8-5 and we're still in the game.'' Instead, the wheels continued to come off. Adamson gave up a two-run single to Lienert, another walk, and two more singles to make it 13-5. Rice, who got the last two outs of the third, allowed only a walk in the fourth, and Reno Continental scored two runs off Trevor McCleery in the fourth to end it. "It's disappointing because we know we're a better team than we've played here,'' Jeff Adamson said. "There's no one player to blame, no one thing, just one of those things. It was like against Washington, we got the two runs, then boom, they scored eight. Same thing here. We go up 5-3, and the next thing you know, we're down 13-5. "We knew they were a good-hitting team, but we didn't expect them to come out here and score 15 runs on us.'' Medford American.................................. 005 0 � 5 5 0 Reno Continental...............................30(10) 2 � 15 8 2 George, Adamson (3), McCleery (3) and Happeny; Jousta, Rice (3) and Locker. 2B � RC: Banks. HR � RC: Rice, Lienert. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA