'Stangs finish strong at Coach K Memorial Classic

Jun. 26—With a purpose of bringing some of the best American Legion AAA baseball teams in town to beef up competition in the Coach K Memorial Classic, the Medford Mustangs accomplished just what they wanted this week.

The experience did not come with a championship trophy attached to it, but that didn't deter Mustangs manager from putting things in perspective after Medford capped a 4-1 tourney run with a 7-5 victory over Humboldt in Sunday's third-place championship at Harry & David Field.

"These are the situations we like to put our guys in," said Mayben. "Having to mentally grind through games like we've had this week is what prepares you for the postseason."

"There's been some great games and some good baseball being played with some tough teams," he added of the fifth annual event that honors the legacy of former Mustangs manager Sandee Kensinger, who died in 2017 at age 59. "It was a good tournament; it's what we want the Coach K to be. Hopefully we can repeat that here in the future."

Medford (14-3) was denied its chance to play in Sunday's championship game after a 10-4 loss to Idaho Falls in which the Bandits broke a 4-all tie with one run in the fifth and used a three-run error to seize control in the sixth.

Idaho Falls won the Coach K title in dramatic fashion, 3-2, with a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the seventh against Roseburg on Sunday.

"It was one of those games where they did a good job of putting the ball in play and making us make plays," said Mayben of the late Saturday clash with the Bandits, "and we just didn't do what we normally do defensively. Against good teams, you just can't do that. We've been playing good defense and this is a good defensive team and I have no doubt that we'll bounce back."

Humboldt, the No. 2 seed from the blue division, managed to build a 3-1 lead until Medford finally came to life again in the bottom of the third.

Limited to only one hit through the first two innings, the Mustangs used singles by Johnny King and Cody Borraggine to put pressure on the Eagles.

"We did a good job of putting the ball in play there in the third inning," said Mayben. "I think we had one hit going into it, a little blooper into left field, and you could just tell our guys are tired. We had a talk about having good intent at the plate and wanting to attack fastballs, and they did a good job that inning of doing that."

With one out, Tanner Douglas provided a much-needed spark with a two-run double down the right field line to tie the game. He later came in to score the go-ahead run on a passed ball.

"That was huge to get our energy up, for sure," Mayben said of Douglas' hit. "We were a little sluggish but that double that landed literally right on the right field line was huge. Tanner came up big for us and bailed us out a little bit and obviously scored later, too, so that was good."

After Humboldt was able to tie the game at 4-all in the top of the fourth, Medford took control in the bottom half of the inning with three more runs.

A double by Jeremiah Robbins and single by Owen Thompson again got the Mustangs off on the right foot in the fourth. Kaleb Long followed with a bunt single to bring home a run and Medford went about manufacturing more runs via stolen bases, a wild pitch and sacrifice fly by Borraggine.

"In the fourth inning we did a good job of getting a push bunt down for a run that led to another run that led to another run," said Mayben. "We played a little small-ball there and did a good job of grinding it out."

Julius Bolstad picked up the pitching victory after allowing seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 41/3 innings, while Frankie Rutigliano did a good job of silencing Humboldt with 22/3 innings of no-hit relief with one walk and four strikeouts.

Medford played without one of its leading hitters in Aiden Horsley, who reaggravated a hamstring issue from the spring during Saturday's game and sat out Sunday to rest up. Horsley, who was unable to finish Saturday's game, entered the tournament with a team-high .487 batting average.

Borraggine had two hits on Saturday and Sunday, while Jace Miller drove in a pair of runs against Idaho Falls.

Humboldt Eagles0211100—572

Medford Mustangs103300x—782

Pesch, Dixon (6) and Lommori; Bolstad, Rutigliano (5) and Robbins, Cope (7). W — Bolstad. L — Pesch. 2B — H: Agliolo; M: Douglas, Robbins.

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Idaho Falls Bandits4000150—10102

Medford Mustangs1021000—452

Whitney, Horvath (6) and Woods; Aldrich, King (4), Borraggine (6) and Wallace. W — Whitney. L — Aldrich. 2B — IF: Jones 2, Robinson, Horvath; M: Borraggine 2, Miller.

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