MEDFORD, Ore. – Carson Dillon tossed a 2-hit shutout, limiting the Klamath Falls Falcons to four base runners on the day, as the Petaluma Leghorns earned a 13-0 victory in the opener of the Coach K Classic at Harry & David Field.
The right-hander allowed a first inning walk to Aiden Hayes and a second inning single to Tyler Harper – but both runners were erased on double play balls. A second inning Payton Price single and a Hayes hit-by-pitch in the seventh were the only other Falcons (3-7) to reach base. Dillon struck out five in the victory.
The Leghorns (20-4), the 2022 American Legion Western Region Runner-Up, took a 1-0 lead in the first as Jeffrey Rice singled and scored on a 2-out Brady Boyd double.
Falcons starter Owen Harper was strong through the first three innings – but ran into trouble in the fourth – as Petaluma loaded the bases with one out. August Cuneo delivered an RBI single, with a key 2-out error by Klamath Falls pushed the margin to 5-0.
The California nine put the game away in the late innings – scoring three in the sixth and five more in the seventh, combining for nine hits and three Falcon errors.
Klamath returns to action tomorrow with back-to-back games – an 11 a.m. date with the Fairfield Expos and a 1 p.m. match-up against the Reno Knights.
