Rockets claim first title

The Rockets are bridesmaids no more.
In the fourth year of hosting the World Baseball Congress tournament, Portland clinched the title Sunday, topping the 2011 champion Illinois Jayhawks 5-2.
“Feels great. The team deserves it,” said Portland manager Randy Miller. “They worked harder. They traveled farther. They played like champions.”
“Win or lose, these guys do it the right way,” he said.
There was no losing to be had for Portland (26-9) over the three-day tournament. The Rockets finished 4-0 in the tourney to claim their first title after falling in the championship round in the previous two years.
In the title game Sunday evening, the Rockets pitching and defense was able to hold the Jayhawks (38-11) at bay while small-ball play from Portland led to a handful of runs.
In the fourth inning, with runners on first and second and no outs, nine-hole hitter Logan Hug squared up for a sacrifice. But the bunt dribbled just past the plate on the third base side and Hug was able to beat the throw to first, energizing the Rockets dugout.
“Everyone remembers the home run, but the little things that set the table created all the havoc for them in that inning,” Miller said of Hug’s bunt.
The energy carried forward as Dalton Tinsely and Kirby Campbell each followed with RBI singles and shortstop Zach Tanner drove in a third despite grounding into a double play to take a 5-0 lead.
Portland got an RBI double out of Tanner in the first and a RBI walk from Campbell in the second.
The only misfire of the night came in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded and one out. Illinois tapped a dribbler back to the mound and pitcher Billy Geeslin, whose momentum was carrying him toward first base, went to second for the double play. Tanner’s throw to first sailed wide, however, allowing the Jayhawks’ only two runs to score unearned.
Geeslin got the win, throwing four innings with three strikeouts on five walks and two hits. Travis Gray fanned two in one inning of relief and 2002 Jay County High School graduate Mitch Waters threw the final two  frames for a save.
“Billy pitched well,” Miller said. “He pitched in a lot of traffic and he hasn’t pitched that much because some teams have been dying. … But he’s ‘Billy Ball Game’ and he knew we also had his back. Mitch isn’t going to let things slide.”
The Rockets battled through two tough games on their way to the title.
On Friday, Waters led Portland to a 4-2 win over the Lebanon Merchants, hurling a complete game and sitting down seven batters.
Saturday’s game, which was delayed for about 20 minutes due to a short thunderstorm, was the only easy effort as the Rockets dominated the Cincinnati Chiefs 11-3. Tanner went deep in the third inning for a three-run homer and also had an RBI triple in the first.
And the Rockets edged the familiar Fort Wayne Jackers 3-2 in the early game Sunday. The Jackers had the tying run on third with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, but Dan Bollenbacher, who started against Cincinnati the day before, entered in relief and got Portland out of the jam and finished for the save.
The Rockets now head into the National Amateur Baseball Federation tournament in Cincinnati this week.
“We’ve never won the tournament in Cincinnati,” Miller said, optimistically adding, “But we’ve never won this one either.”[[In-content Ad]]