Eighth annual tournament honoring former Mustangs manager Sandee Kensinger runs Thursday-Sunday in Eagle Point

Thanks to a sweep of Grants Pass in Area 4 American Legion AAA play Tuesday night, the Medford Mustangs will enter the eighth annual Coach K Memorial Tournament with plenty of momentum.

The Mustangs have won eight of their last nine games entering tournament play Thursday, when Medford will play twice before having single games Friday and Saturday. That one loss was a 2-1, nine-inning loss to host Clackamas this past Sunday.

The Coach K Memorial Classic will be held for the first time in Eagle Point, and honors former Mustangs manager Sandee Kensinger, who died at the age of 59 on Aug. 14, 2017.

“It’s always fun to just celebrate Coach K and everything that he’s done for Jackson County and for Medford baseball,” said second-year Mustangs manager John King.

“It’s gonna be a grind for us this weekend because you’ve got to have kids out there doing the gate, helping with the field and all that, so the kids will be out in the sun all day long,” he added, “but I think what we’ve done coming up to this by going to California, going to Portland and now doing our tournament is good for us.”

The level of competition at the Coach K Memorial Classic also stands to benefit the Mustangs (15-2, 5-1 Area 4) in the long haul, although the scouting reports are limited so it will be a lot of learning on the fly and primarily focusing on what has led the team to such a strong start.

Medford will face the Salem Wellcare Dodgers at 2:20 p.m. before returning at 7 p.m. to take on the Idaho Falls Bandits during Thursday’s opening day of tournament play.

“Idaho Falls was a big get for us to get them to come here,” said King. “There’s a little rivalry with us and them over the years, and from what I hear after talking with some college coaches that have seen them play, they’re really good again. I’m excited to get them here and see what we can do against a team of their caliber.”

The Mustangs will play the Reno Knights at 7 p.m. Friday and the Corvallis Gerding Builders — a perennial state tournament contender — at 7 p.m. Saturday, with the tournament officially wrapping up Sunday in Eagle Point.

“Reno has a couple big arms that are 90-plus guys, so I’m hoping to be able to see one of those guys,” said King.

The tournament field also includes Southern Oregon Baseball, a local 18U team led by former Medford Rogues manager Parker Berberet, and Roseburg Dr. Stewart’s. Games will have a two-hour limit, with 20 minutes in between games on Day 1 to account for a packed schedule.

Medford has averaged 10 runs in its last nine games, and enters tournament play with a team batting average of .372 thanks to stellar starts from regulars Tristan Mallari (.450), Keller Bloodworth (.431), Jackson Rosenthal (.400), Grady Sickler (.400), Brady Patterson (.383), Sean McFall (.362) and Easton Curtis (.352).

“I think the selectiveness and balls that we’re swinging at has helped us a bunch, and we have some really good hitters on our team, which always helps,” said King. “I just think that their approach so far has been the biggest thing for us having success this summer hitting the ball.”

Bloodworth and McFall lead the Mustangs with 18 RBIs apiece, with Patterson (17), Rosenthal (16) and Sickler (16) not far off that pace. Rosenthal has scored the most runs thus far with 24, just one ahead of Curtis and four in front of McFall.

Kensinger retired just three games shy of managing his 1,000th game for the Mustangs prior to the 2011 season, when Nate Mayben took over. His career record was 758-239, for a winning percentage of .760 over 19 seasons. He stepped down for two seasons, 2001-02, for personal reasons but served as an assistant to Brent Watts.

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

Tuesday offered Medford a chance at avenging an Area 4-opening loss to Grants Pass on June 16, with the Mustangs scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning to rally for a 9-7 victory before dominating Game 2 for a 12-0, five-inning victory.

McFall got Medford’s comeback started with a leadoff double, and advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Mallari. Freeman Rountree followed with an RBI single to center field to tie the game at 7-all, then Cade Pettersen reached when he was hit by a pitch.

Grants Pass opted to intentionally walk Patterson to load the bases and set up a force play on the infield, but Keegan Painter came through with a sacrifice fly to put the Mustangs ahead 8-7.

After another walk issued by Nuggets pitcher Logan Zavolta to Curtis, Medford tacked on an insurance run when Rosenthal drew a walk from Jedidiah Robertson.

Jake Lewis, who had entered in relief of Dominic Daffron with two outs in the sixth inning, got out of a one-out jam in the bottom of the seventh — set up by an error and a walk — with a pop-up to Painter at second base and a game-ending flyout to Curtis in center field.

Bloodworth went 3-for-5 with one run and one RBI, McFall was 2-for-4 with three runs and one RBI and Sickler went 2-for-3 with an RBI to pace the Mustangs in the opener.

Rountree pitched a three-hit shutout in Game 2 with seven strikeouts and two walks, while McFall drove in three runs and scored twice, Curtis went 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs and Rosenthal was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.

Easton Douglas also drove in two runs and Painter scored twice in the nightcap.

Reach sports editor Kris Henry at kris.henry@rv-times.com or 458-488-2035