The Roseburg Dr. Stewart's American Legion baseball team saw its season come to an abrupt halt following a 7-5 loss to the Portland
Eastside Barbers in a loser-bracket game at the American Legion State
Tournament at Swede Johnson Stadium in Eugene Saturday.
In the bottom of the second, Portland's Dakota Farmer hit a solo home run to center off Doc starter Brenden Fricke to give the Barbers a 4-0 lead. Fricke, a junior-to-be at Glide High School, gave up five runs on five hits in four innings of work. The Barbers would go on to add two more runs, with the Docs using a cadre of relievers, including Chris Davis, Josh Kennedy and Mike Morin.
Roseburg's Brandon Jackson scored Jared Priestley on a fielder's choice ground out to second base, giving the Docs their first run in the top of the eighth off Portland reliever Cody Pollack. An Austin Stone single would score two more for Roseburg to make it a four-run deficit.
In the top of the ninth, Roseburg would make one final push. With the Docs down to their final out, Mitch Huff tripled off the center field wall to score Tyson Dahl. Huff would then come in to score on an error by the Portland shortstop on Jackson's ground ball to cut the lead to two. Pollack, who struggled with control during his relief stint, still managed to retire the Docs by striking out Josh Graham to end the game and the season for Roseburg.
The Dr. Stewart's opened the tournament with wins over Salem Post #9 and the host Eugene Challengers, but two straight losses to the Salem Withnell Dodgers and Portland Eastside brought the season to a close. The Docs finish with a 26-20 overall record.
The Barbers remain alive in the state tournament along with Salem Withnell and Medford. The Mustangs handed the Salem team their first loss of the tourney with a 12-10 slugfest win Saturday night. With three teams having each lost a game, the Mustangs will take on Portland Eastside at 10:30 Sunday morning in an elimination game with the winner playing Salem Withnell for the state title at 1:30PM. The winner advances to the Northwest Regional in Montana.