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A bad habit of having to play from behind during high school baseball has spilled over into American Legion season for Roseburg players.
Aside from causing heartburn in the dugout, it hasn’t been a problem for Dr. Stewart’s, which rallied for the second time in as many games, beating Richey’s Market of Corvallis 7-4 Thursday night at Legion Field.
This time it was catcher Jordan Guthrie who came up with the timely hit, driving in two runs to start a six-run seventh inning.
“We have to stop playing from behind,” said Docs’ first baseman Derek Priestley, who tripled, doubled and scored two runs. “We win a lot of games, but we have come out better at the start. I don’t know what it is.”
Priestley staked the Docs (2-0) to a 1-0 lead early, making it all the way to third on a deep fly that Marketman leftfielder Kyle Larkin dropped in the sunset shadows and coming home on a Jered Stoffal sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, Dakota Mathis made a stellar debut for the Docs on the mound, pitching no-hit ball in four innings of work. Unfortunately for the Oakland native he didn’t get the win as Richey’s Market (5-3) scored two runs off his replacement, Kyle Fields.
Corvallis’ Adam Opoien broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth and Jesse Bousted brought him home with a double. The Docs looked like they’d escape the inning with a tie, but after Bousted stole third, Fields was called for a balk to make it 2-1.
It stayed that way as Marketmen reliever Aaron Corwin retired six of the seven batters he faced after starter Nathan Williams left after four innings.
“Corvallis is a great program each year and gave us a good test,” Docs coach Scott Shaver said. “There was good competition on both sides.”
But Johnny Farrington led off the seventh with a bloop single, then Boone Farrington and Bo Younker drew walks with one out to load the bases for Guthrie. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound cleanup hitter fell behind in the count early to reliever Casey Cameron.
“He got ahead on me early and I had to battle back a bit,” Guthrie said. “He gave me a good pitch to hit and I just tried to put it somewhere. It ended up being a good thing.”
That somewhere ended up being straight up the middle to score the Farrington brothers for a 3-2 lead the Docs would never relinquish.
“Jordan really came through in the clutch and made it a big inning for us,” Shaver said. “Johnny and Boone did a good job of finding a way on to set it up and everybody found some pop.”
A.J. Royal re-loaded the bases with a walk and Priestley followed with a two-run double, this time a no-doubter to left-center. Stoffal hit his second sacrifice RBI of the game and Bryson Norton added an RBI single.
Fields settled in after a shaky start, retiring seven of the last nine batters he faced to pick up the win. Brandon Jackson has saved both of his team’s games this season with multiple-inning appearances. Mathis didn’t even get a hold for his performance.
“It was good to see (Dakota) pitch strong like that,” Guthrie said. “I hadn’t caught for him, him being from Oakland, but I knew he had good stuff from playing with him in youth baseball. When I saw the scoreboard said no hits I thought ‘he came ready to play.’”
After committing seven ugly errors in their season opener Saturday night, the Docs cut it down to two close miscues. Stoffal, playing in his second game at third, showed marked improvement, digging out four balls that looked like trouble.
“You never know where balls are going to come from, especially at Legion,” said Priestley, who moved from third to first this summer. “(Jered) is a good player and he stepped up.”
The win kicked off a stretch of eight games in nine days for the Docs, who host Salem Post 9 at 6 tonight.
“That’s the fun thing about summer ball,” Shaver said. “Once you start playing you don’t really stop until mid-August.”
• You can reach sports reporter Rob McCallum by e-mail at rmccallum@nrtoday.com, or by phone at 957-4221.
Richey’s Market 000 020 020 — 4 6 0
Dr. Stewart’s 010 000 60x — 7 8 2
Williams, Corwin (5), Cameron (7), Orick (7) and Hill. Mathis, Fields (5), Jackson (8) and Guthrie. WP — Fields (1-0). LP — Cameron. S — Jackson (2). 3B — Priestley (DS). 2B — Bousted (RM), Priestley (DS), B. Farrington (DS).
Aside from causing heartburn in the dugout, it hasn’t been a problem for Dr. Stewart’s, which rallied for the second time in as many games, beating Richey’s Market of Corvallis 7-4 Thursday night at Legion Field.
This time it was catcher Jordan Guthrie who came up with the timely hit, driving in two runs to start a six-run seventh inning.
“We have to stop playing from behind,” said Docs’ first baseman Derek Priestley, who tripled, doubled and scored two runs. “We win a lot of games, but we have come out better at the start. I don’t know what it is.”
Priestley staked the Docs (2-0) to a 1-0 lead early, making it all the way to third on a deep fly that Marketman leftfielder Kyle Larkin dropped in the sunset shadows and coming home on a Jered Stoffal sacrifice fly.
Meanwhile, Dakota Mathis made a stellar debut for the Docs on the mound, pitching no-hit ball in four innings of work. Unfortunately for the Oakland native he didn’t get the win as Richey’s Market (5-3) scored two runs off his replacement, Kyle Fields.
Corvallis’ Adam Opoien broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth and Jesse Bousted brought him home with a double. The Docs looked like they’d escape the inning with a tie, but after Bousted stole third, Fields was called for a balk to make it 2-1.
It stayed that way as Marketmen reliever Aaron Corwin retired six of the seven batters he faced after starter Nathan Williams left after four innings.
“Corvallis is a great program each year and gave us a good test,” Docs coach Scott Shaver said. “There was good competition on both sides.”
But Johnny Farrington led off the seventh with a bloop single, then Boone Farrington and Bo Younker drew walks with one out to load the bases for Guthrie. The 6-foot-2, 245-pound cleanup hitter fell behind in the count early to reliever Casey Cameron.
“He got ahead on me early and I had to battle back a bit,” Guthrie said. “He gave me a good pitch to hit and I just tried to put it somewhere. It ended up being a good thing.”
That somewhere ended up being straight up the middle to score the Farrington brothers for a 3-2 lead the Docs would never relinquish.
“Jordan really came through in the clutch and made it a big inning for us,” Shaver said. “Johnny and Boone did a good job of finding a way on to set it up and everybody found some pop.”
A.J. Royal re-loaded the bases with a walk and Priestley followed with a two-run double, this time a no-doubter to left-center. Stoffal hit his second sacrifice RBI of the game and Bryson Norton added an RBI single.
Fields settled in after a shaky start, retiring seven of the last nine batters he faced to pick up the win. Brandon Jackson has saved both of his team’s games this season with multiple-inning appearances. Mathis didn’t even get a hold for his performance.
“It was good to see (Dakota) pitch strong like that,” Guthrie said. “I hadn’t caught for him, him being from Oakland, but I knew he had good stuff from playing with him in youth baseball. When I saw the scoreboard said no hits I thought ‘he came ready to play.’”
After committing seven ugly errors in their season opener Saturday night, the Docs cut it down to two close miscues. Stoffal, playing in his second game at third, showed marked improvement, digging out four balls that looked like trouble.
“You never know where balls are going to come from, especially at Legion,” said Priestley, who moved from third to first this summer. “(Jered) is a good player and he stepped up.”
The win kicked off a stretch of eight games in nine days for the Docs, who host Salem Post 9 at 6 tonight.
“That’s the fun thing about summer ball,” Shaver said. “Once you start playing you don’t really stop until mid-August.”
• You can reach sports reporter Rob McCallum by e-mail at rmccallum@nrtoday.com, or by phone at 957-4221.
Richey’s Market 000 020 020 — 4 6 0
Dr. Stewart’s 010 000 60x — 7 8 2
Williams, Corwin (5), Cameron (7), Orick (7) and Hill. Mathis, Fields (5), Jackson (8) and Guthrie. WP — Fields (1-0). LP — Cameron. S — Jackson (2). 3B — Priestley (DS). 2B — Bousted (RM), Priestley (DS), B. Farrington (DS).
