Rallying rockets

Portland split its first 14 games this season. But now that it has the Rocket rally down to a science, the team has become nearly impossible to beat.
After a strong pitching outing from Tyler Reynolds in their opener Saturday, the Portland Rockets tacked on three consecutive comeback victories in walk-off fashion at Portland Memorial Park’s Runkle-Miller Field to extend their winning streak to eight games. They topped Northeast Kekionga 5-1 and 11-10 Saturday, and then knocked off the Fort Wayne Expos 2-1 in nine innings and 5-4 Sunday.
“We showed some mental toughness,” said Miller following Saturday’s 11-10 win in which Portland scored three times in the bottom of the final frame. “When you’re down 8-0 and your daubers are down, it’s easy to pack it in. But these guys find a way. They’ve done this before where they scratch back. It should offer some belief in the group.”
The team was more than confident despite trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning in the final game of the weekend.
Portland (23-10, 10-3 Fort Wayne League) promptly loaded the bases in its final at bat. Billy Geeslin, affectionately known as Billy Ballgame, nearly ended the game with a single swing but his hit came up just short of a grand slam as it fell in for a bases-clearing double.
Rocket leadoff man Dalton Tinsley took care of the rest, smacking a two-out single to bring home Geeslin with the winning run.
Pitching came up big for Portland in each of the two opening games of the weekend.
Jay County High School graduate Mitch Waters handled Sunday’s duties, tossing a shutout into extra innings. He finally gave up a run in the top of the ninth, but he got it back with an RBI single that drove in Justin Marrero.
Alex Delk added the game-winning hit on a single that scored Geoff Bowers.
Reynolds was in a bases-loaded jam thanks to two walks and an error in the first inning of game one Saturday, but got a strikeout to stop the threat and tossed six scoreless innings. He finally gave up a run in the seventh to Northeast Kekionga, Indiana Tech’s summer team, but got the complete-game win while tossing 122 pitches.
“He wanted it. It was his college team and he was not going to come out of the game,” said Miller. “It was good for him. He knows how to mix it up. He’s a pretty strong kid mentally and physically. He does his job well.”
The biggest comeback of the weekend came in the second game against Kekionga, in which pitching woes led to an 8-0 deficit.
Portland still trailed 10-8 despite its eight-run fifth inning, but was ready to keep fighting in the final frame as Collin Affolder (South Adams) hit a line-drive double down the left-field line. T.J. Lindstrand added a double to the gap in left-center field, and a wild pitch to Conner Milligan brought Affolder to the plate.
Milligan went on to walk, and Tinsley singled to drive in Lindstrand and put runners on first and second. Heath Williams (Jay County), making his Rocket return after nearly three years of retirement, bunted to push pinch runner Wesley Hibbard (Jay County) to third base.
“I didn’t bunt it earlier in the game very well, so I just went back to the basics,” said Williams. “It helped.”
Bowers took advantage of the opportunity, smacking a single back through the middle to allow Hibbard to trot home with the winning run.
The seventh-inning comeback was set up by the eight-run fifth that started as Tinsley, Williams and Bowers smacked consecutive one-out singles. Waters followed with a three-run home run, and the flood gates were opened.
After Northeast recorded its second out, Delk smacked a double, Affolder added a single and Lindstrand reached base on an error. That set the stage for Milligan, who after making the first out of the inning clobbered a two-run home run to even the score.
The Rockets, who have won 16 of their last 19, will close the regular season on the road this week before returning home Aug. 1 to host the World Baseball Congress Tournament.
“It feels good to maybe help these young guys out and get them rolling going into the tournament. That’s big,” said Williams, a 2004 JCHS graduate who retired from Rocket ball following the 2011 season. “I know how it was when I played … You’ve got to be on a roll.”[[In-content Ad]]