Medford Mustangs shortstop Owen Thompson tags out Reno's Wylder May at second base Thursday evening at Harry & David Field.

Nate Mayben has seen his Medford Mustangs struggle from time to time over 13 seasons at the helm, but it’s typically been a blip on the radar, rapidly replaced by steady victories.

Maybe there was a batting lull here and there, sometimes an injury to a pitcher or two caused more setbacks than expected over a week’s time.

Or maybe it was just a lack of tenacity and focus, but it typically was a definable quality that could be reasonably addressed in short order.

Thus far this summer, however, it’s been one step forward and two steps back with issues in just about all facets of the game for the reigning American Legion AAA state champions.

Playing under the spotlight of the sixth annual Coach K Memorial Classic, which honors the contributions made to the program by former manager Sandee Kensinger, has only served to magnify those issues.

One night after committing more errors (five) than they were able to manufacture hits (two) in a 9-0 loss to Petaluma to open the five-day tournament, the Mustangs trailed 9-0 through 2½ innings and never recovered in an eventual 16-1 loss to the Reno Knights on Thursday night at Harry & David Field.

Reno amassed 18 hits — 13 in the first three innings — and capitalized on six Medford errors to run roughshod over the home team.

The Mustangs (10-7) entered Friday’s game against the Humboldt Eagles having lost four of their last five games — and not really in narrow fashion.

“The only thing we can do and can say is we just have to keep working,” said Mayben, who led Medford to its 18th state title last year and seventh in the last eight attempts. “You just have to keep coming out — no matter the result — the next day ready to work and get better.

“We’ve got to play better defense, we’ve got to throw a bit more strikes, we’ve got to give up less free bases, we’ve got to put the ball in play … we’ve got a lot of stuff to work on. But we’ve got a group of guys that I think are willing to work. We’ve just got to keep staying positive and find positives where we can and go to work on the negatives.”

One glaring negative through it all has been on the defensive end, where Medford has committed 21 errors in its last five games alone. Defense has been an issue throughout the summer, with a revolving door of candidates put in the field to remedy the problem but to no avail thus far.

“It’s haunting us, there’s no question,” Mayben said of the errors. “We haven’t found a recipe for success in the field right now. We’re moving guys all around and I think eventually we’ll have to just go with something.”

“I think guys are pressing pretty hard because they know that there are so many spots that are open that we’re still trying to figure out,” he added, “and when they get an opportunity, they’re trying to make the most of it but they’re just putting so much pressure on themselves that it’s not helping them.”

What also hasn’t helped is how quickly recent games have gotten away from Medford, as was the case Thursday night against Reno.

“The first two innings of every game, just about, are killing us,” said Mayben. “We’re not coming out and setting a good tone on the mound, and defensively we’re making errors early and putting us in a huge hole that’s tough to come back from. We’ve got to be ready to go from the get-go a whole lot better than we have been.”

A five-inning no-hitter by Owen Thompson in Game 2 of a doubleheader split with Klamath Falls on Tuesday provided the lone victory to interrupt consecutive losses. While the overall pitching numbers could stand for improvement in terms of free bases allowed, they also could be helped with a little better support from the defense.

“Our pitchers have struggled a little bit,” said Mayben, “but our defense is just not picking them up at all.”

That said, Mayben wasn’t making any excuses about Reno’s prolific performance, which included five doubles and at least one hit in all but two innings.

“I’ve got to give it to Reno,” said the coach. “We didn’t make some of the plays but 18 hits is pretty tough to defend against. We’ve got to tip our cap to them a little bit.”

On the flip side, one night after only Tristan Mallari and Jeremiah Robbins were able to register a hit against Petaluma, the Mustangs managed only three hits against Reno pitcher Colton Ouellete, who went the distance. Ouellette struck out 11 and walked two, throwing 58 of his 87 pitches for strikes.

Aiden Horsley, Eli Havey and Triston Wallace had the lone hits for Medford, with Easton Curtis plating the team’s lone run in the third inning on a groundout.

“We’re stagnant offensively,” Mayben said of the recent offensive woes. “We’re taking a lot of pitches that we should be hitting and getting down in the count and getting ourselves into a battle mode too early in the count.”

Where Medford isn’t at, however, is panic mode.

It’s just a matter of the Mustangs finding themselves and realizing their true potential.

“I don’t think we’ve found the right recipe yet,” said Mayben. “Obviously if we get too much further here we’re going to have to just go with something, and maybe that’s what we need, I don’t know. I’ve got to do a better job of managing that and managing the roster — so everybody’s got to get better.”

“I think we’re talented enough,” he added. “We’ve got guys that can play the game a whole lot better than we’re playing right now, there’s no question about that. We’ve just got to find the switch and we’ve got to get it turned. We need some guys to step up. We need the guys who were here last year to get the new guys on board and start leading for us.”

After Friday’s game against Humboldt, the Mustangs are set to wrap up the Coach K Memorial Classic with contests Saturday against the Fairfield Expos and Sunday against the Salem Withnell Dodgers.

Kensinger, who retired three games shy of managing his 1,000th game for the Mustangs prior to the 2011 season, died suddenly at the age of 59 on Aug. 14, 2017. His career record was 758-239 with a winning percentage of .760 in 19 seasons. He stepped down for two seasons, 2001-02, for personal reasons, but served as an assistant coach to Brent Watts.

Under Kensinger, the Mustangs made it to the American Legion World Series three times (1992, 1997 and 2009), finishing second in ’97 and ’09. They also went in 2002. The Mustangs captured seven state championships with Kensinger at the helm.

Reno 252 100 6 — 16 18 1

Medford 001 000 0 — 1 3 6

Ouellette and May; Daffron, Cope (4) and Havey. W — Ouellette. L — Daffron. 2B — R: Chick 2, Edwards, May, Sellers; M: Havey.

Petaluma 231 000 3 — 9 8 0

Medford 000 000 0 — 0 2 5