Portland earns rubber match (08/02/04)

PORTLAND — The Crawfordsville Eagles gave up just one earned run all weekend. It was the four unearned runs and former Major Leaguer Keith Shepherd which forced them to spend another day in Portland.

Shepherd earned his second win of the tournament Sunday as the Portland Rockets topped Crawfordsville 5-0 to force a third and deciding game Monday for the American Amateur Baseball Congress Indiana state tournament championship.

Crawfordsville had topped Portland 1-0 in Saturday’s first round, and defeated the LaMargarita Blues 2-0 in the semifinal round. The Rockets followed their opening-round loss with a 5-2 victory against Lebanon and a 4-3 win over Fort Wayne League rival LaMargarita before topping Crawfordsville Sunday.

Portland and Crawfordsville will meet in the finale of the double-elimination tournament tonight at 7:30 p.m. at Runkle-Miller Field.

With Shepherd keeping the Eagles off the board, the Rockets got all the runs they would need thanks to a two-out error by third baseman Rhett Welliever in the fourth inning.

With Brandon Cooley already on first following an infield single, Kris Steffen hit a grounder to Welliever. But, the third baseman mishandled the ball and never got a throw off.

Jay County graduate Mitch Waters immediately made Crawfordsville pay as he ripped an RBI single to center field. Waters took second base without a throw, and Steffen would score on a wild pitch as Matt Gard drew a walk.

Then with runners on first and third, Rocket veteran Brad Buckingham executed a perfect squeeze bunt to bring Waters home. Gard would also score on a passed ball as Adam Childs drew a walk before Eagle starter Brian Smith finally escaped the inning.

Tommy Pearce touched Smith for the only earned run the team gave up in three tournament games when he led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to center field.

Shepherd, 36, who pitched in parts of four major league seasons for the Phillies, Rockies, Red Sox and Orioles, never let the Eagles have a chance as he gave up just two hits over the final four innings. He retired the final six batters he faced and racked up five of his six strikeouts in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings in the five-hit, complete-game shutout.

Pearce and Waters paced the Portland offense as they each went 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI. Cooley singled and scored a run, and Buckingham had a single and an RBI.

Brandon Frodge had two of Crawfordsville’s five hits.

Portland 4, LaMargarita 3

Portland waited almost too long against the Blues, but came up with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take the victory.

Trailing 3-1 after five innings, Steffen led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to right-center field. After a fly out by Waters and a strikeout by Buckingham the Rockets got the two-out rally going.

Childs knocked a single to left field to bring in Steffen. After Childs stole second, Brandon Dillon swapped places with him with a game-tying RBI double to right-center.

Pearce ripped a double of his own to plate Dillon and give Portland the 4-3 lead.

LaMargarita tried to match the Rockets’ two-out success in the top of the seventh as they loaded the bases with two outs on a single, an error and a hit batsman. But, Portland reliever Kurt Woeste induced a grounder back to the mound to end the game.

Woeste got the win as he allowed three hits in two scoreless innings. Jay County graduate Pete Byrum started and allowed three runs on seven hits in five innings.

Dillon finished 3-for-4 with a double, a run and an RBI. Steffen was 2-for-2 with a double, a run and a stolen base.

Portland 5, Lebanon 1

Shepherd picked up his first win of the weekend Saturday as he tossed four innings against the Merchants. He allowed two runs — one earned — before handing the ball over to Neil Schmitz.

Schmitz didn’t give up a hit in the final three innings. He allowed just two base runners — on a walk and a hit batsman — in three scoreless frames as he earned the save.

Portland did most of its damage with the score tied at 1-1 in the second inning.

Waters led off the top of the second with a double to left field, and Gard drew a walk. Waters came around to give the Rockets the lead for good on a wild pitch.

Childs drew a walk, and Dillon put Portland up 4-1 with a two-run double to right field. It added one more run in the fifth inning as Ryan Rammel doubled, advanced to third on a bunt single by Cooley and scored on a wild pitch.

Childs finished the game 2-for-4 with a run.[[In-content Ad]]