From a seven-run inning to 21 combined hits, four double plays — including one capped at home plate — and nine total errors, there was a little bit of everything in the books during Tuesday’s marathon matchup between South Medford and Sheldon at Harry & David Field.

Most importantly for the Panthers, there was also a Southwest Conference baseball victory.

South Medford used a seven-run second inning to seemingly take control of Tuesday’s game before gradually letting that advantage slip away until the Panthers could muster up some late energy to post an 8-7 triumph thanks to a walk-off single by senior Kaleb Long in the bottom of the 10th inning.

“Scoring seven in the second and then them coming back, it was brutal for a minute,” Long said in appraising the up-and-down affair, “but we worked well as a team and came back and found a way.”

The win was a much-needed lift for South Medford (4-4, 1-1 SWC), which had entered the game having lost three of its last four games and lost starting shortstop and leadoff hitter Kyle Cope to injury in the process.

“We just grinded that one out,” said Panthers head coach Josh Moody. “It doesn’t matter if you win by one or by 20, we’ll take them how we can get them.”

The final frame was a fitting example of South Medford’s fortitude against Sheldon (3-6, 0-3), which never gave up despite its early deficit and impressively just kept chipping away on offense while holding the Panthers at bay on defense.

In the top of the 10th inning, Sheldon managed to put the go-ahead run on second base before Ty Burnham’s laser to left field was hauled in by Chance Ryan to end the threat.

In the bottom half of the inning, recent varsity call-up Brad Love — a sophomore filling Cope’s void at shortstop — singled to center field in the No. 9 hole to create an opportunity for the Panthers.

Owen Leavens then sent a rocket to left field but was denied on a running effort in the outfield by Sheldon’s Quincy Peterson for an out. What followed was a bit of a gift from the Irish after a low pickoff attempt of Love at first base by relief pitcher Evan Colling got loose in foul territory, moving up the right field side to allow Love to scoot all the way to third base for a two-base error — Sheldon’s fifth of the contest.

Against a drawn-in infield and newly inserted pitcher Tyler Wright, Long seized his opportunity and scorched a hot shot that barely eluded lunging shortstop Brady Barry for the game-winner.

“If he was going to give me anything in the zone, I was going to crush it,” Long said of his mentality at the plate in that moment. “I didn’t really think he was going to give me anything just because my run didn’t really matter, so I thought he was going to walk me. But I got the job done and it felt good.”

Given how crazy the game had gone, with Sheldon coming up with key plays to thwart the Panthers in all but that second inning, there still was no given until Long saw the baseball finally skip into the outfield.

“I was hoping it was through,” said the senior catcher, who finished 2-for-4 with one run and two RBIs. “I felt it come hard off the bat so I was like, please. I saw him go for it and I needed to elevate it a little bit more just to secure it, but it got the job done tonight.”

About two hours earlier, none of that seemed destined to be necessary as starting pitcher Tristan Mallari was in control of the Irish batters and South Medford caught fire with seven runs on six hits and three walks in the eventful second inning.

Grady McQuillan got it all started with a leadoff single and, after a walk drawn by Keegan Painter, was able to score on an infield single by Gannen Jones. Ryan then put a spark into what would develop into a big inning when he laced a shot to the left-center gap that split two Sheldon outfielders desperate to make a catch and resulted in a two-run triple to make it 3-0.

Love and Leavens walked to load the bases against Sheldon starter Nolan Miller, and the Panthers used consecutive RBI singles by Long and Mallari and another run scored on a fine double play by Sheldon to create a 6-0 cushion.

Not done yet, McQuillan tacked on an RBI single of his own before Miller was able to earn a strikeout and get out of the inning down 7-0.

“That bottom of the second when we put up that seven-spot, there were a lot of quality at-bats strung together and a lot of basehits going middle-away there and having a great approach,” said Moody. “We also did a great job of putting the ball in play with two strikes.”

Little did the Panthers know but those hits would be their last until Jake Lewis offered up a two-out single in the bottom of the ninth inning after a trio of Sheldon relievers and a pair of double plays quieted their offense.

“We’ve got to work on that because that’s something that we’ve done for the last two weeks now that we’ve started playing,” said Long of the offensive lull. “It’s just something to work on, our energy needs to be there 100% of the time, but we’ll get it next game.”

Added Moody: “Obviously, from the third through the ninth there without getting a hit is something that we need to do better, but we’ll take them how we can get them at this point. That was a good team win right there.”

Most of the credit for that lapse fell in Sheldon’s lap, with the Irish steadily making plays in the field and at the plate to climb back into contention.

Sheldon reliever Scott Lea remained alert and finished off a key double play in the fifth inning when the Panthers attempted a sacrifice bunt to advance Painter from first base and he never stopped running in a bid to third that was erased when Lea recognized the intent and raced to the bag to field a relay throw just in time for the out.

An inning prior, Barry deftly made a barehanded play on a ball up the middle by McQuillan and relayed to first base for an inning-ending out after two walks had put South in scoring position.

Barry was a familiar face for many in the stands Tuesday as the son of former North Medford High golf standout Mike Barry, who also has multiple Southern Oregon Golf Championships men’s titles under his belt.

The freshman shortstop went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI and came through with another clutch defensive effort in the eighth inning to pull off another dramatic double play — this one ending in a collision at home plate.

After Love drew a leadoff walk in the eighth, Sheldon reliever Cam Thomas was able to get Leavens to pop up to catcher Cooper Coleman for a valuable out on a missed sacrifice bunt. Love still managed to reach second base following another errant pickoff attempt, and that led Sheldon to intentionally walk Long to set up a potential force play.

Mallari then hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Asher Olson, but he struggled initially to get the ball out of his glove and made a throw to a covering Barry at the second base bag just in time for an out. There was another initial hesitation as all the players waited to see a quick umpire’s ruling, and South Medford tried to take advantage of it all when Moody kept waving pinch-runner Austin Glass around third.

Realizing what was happening, Barry instantly fired a strike home to Coleman, who blocked the plate well and was able to fend off a sliding Glass who was vying to score the winning run.

“It was a bang-bang play at second there and a lot of times you’ll see infielders kind of looking to see what the call is so I was just trying to catch him napping there,” said Moody of the aggressive play. “We had a bang-bang play at home that didn’t go our way, but the thought process there was just trying to catch them off guard a little bit.”

“When you’re struggling to score runs there, you’ve got to take some chances,” he added. “It didn’t necessarily go our way, but we like to be aggressive on the basepaths. I would send him again if I had the opportunity.”

Fortunately for the Panthers, it didn’t come to that again.

“They definitely made the plays when they needed to the most,” said Long of the Irish, “but the free 90s and the errors will catch up to you. We just had to keep pushing through it and grind and put our head down and work as a team.”

He also credited Mallari and Lewis for holding down the fort on the mound despite a strong surge from Sheldon. Mallari left the game after allowing three runs on three hits in the fourth inning, and Lewis picked up the mantle in the fourth but couldn’t keep the Irish from eventually scoring a tying run in the top of the seventh after South committed two of its three errors in the game.

Lewis held the Irish scoreless over the final three innings of what was an extended outing for him after the Panthers’ plan was to try and keep three pitchers under 50 pitches so they all would be eligible for Saturday.

Mallari finished with three strikeouts and four hits allowed in four innings, while Lewis struck out five with seven hits allowed in six innings.

“We were thinking that we’d be done in seven and not in 10,” Moody said of the revised game plan. “We had to keep running Jake back out there and he did a great job battling for us.”

In other good news Tuesday, Moody said the team learned that Cope will not need surgery for the forearm fracture sustained during an at-bat while playing in the Coach Bob Invitational in Arizona. The healing process will hopefully allow for Cope to return for the state playoffs as the best case scenario, but he should be completely available for the summer baseball circuit.

Sheldon 000 312 1000 — 7 11 5

South Medford 070 000 0001 — 8 9 3

Miller, Lea (4), Thomas (6), Colling (9), Wright (10) and Coleman; Mallari, Lewis (5) and Long. W — Lewis (1-1). L — Colling. 2B — S: Olson, Burnham, Barry. 3B — SM: Ryan.