A special season for Medford boys

A 6-5 loss to Lyle-Pacelli ended one of the most successful Medford baseball seasons in a decade. 
The Tigers entered the sub-section tournament with a 12-6 record. Those 12 wins were five better than last year and nine better than 2013. While their home game against Southland would prove the last win of the season, the boys from Medford put an exclamation point on it, defeating the Rebels 7-6 in 10 innings, the team’s first playoff win since 2007. 
“The win over Southland was a huge piece in continuing to build the program,” said Medford Coach Jon Chappuis. “Southland has a deep tradition of success in Section 1A. (Battling) for 10 innings and overcoming many…precarious situations shows the mental toughness of this team.”
Multiple times in extra innings, Southland threatened with runners in scoring position, but each time junior Nicholas Meixner would pitch his way out of it, with the help of his defense. The Tigers had their own share of stranded runners in extra innings, but a tenth-inning RBI hit by senior Nick VonRuden brought Meixner safely home, sealing the win. 
Players gathered at the pitchers mound, jumping and hugging and cheering on a game to remember. 
The Tigers struggled against Hayfield on May 23, falling 11-1. 
“We appeared to come out a little tight,” said Chappuis. “We gave up many plays that we had made throughout the season.”
Things got tricky for the already short-stacked team when an AJ Chappuis arm injury against Southland forced Coach Chappuis to mix things up on the pitching front. 
“We got into a tough situation,” said Chappuis. “We made the decision against Hayfield to pull Wyatt Volkmann out of that game and save some of his innings for LP. He pitched great but eventually got tired.”
Though the team may not have made it as far as hoped, Chappuis is proud of the run his young team made. 
“The team grew not only as a baseball team but as young men as well,” said Chappuis. “This team did many things that no other Medford team has done before. With only two seniors starting, and as many as four freshman, it shows the potential of this team in upcoming seasons.  The leadership that the two seniors provided during this season was a huge reason for our success.”
Chappuis added that during the regular season, his varsity team had only nine players. With the bench cleared every time the team took the field, few players were able to get the rest many players on other teams receive. 
“No one player could take a game off,” said Chappuis. “To have the success that we had with only nine players is something not many other teams could have done.”
The team will lose two seniors, including Nick VonRuden and the coach’s son, AJ Chappuis.