Rockets fall in finale

Riding the momentum of a nearly month-long winning streak, the Portland Rockets rolled through round-robin play. But in the tournament finals, their 19-game run came to an end.
The Illinois Jayhawks took advantage of a Portland error and rode strong pitching to hand the host Rockets a 3-1 loss in Sunday’s World Baseball Congress championship game.
“The best team on the field won this ball game,” said Rockets’ manager Randy Miller, whose team is now 37-10. “They were a little more opportunistic. Our opportunities got squandered with a double play, and twice we had men at third with one out and didn’t get them in.”
The turning point of the title game came in the fourth inning, when Illinois (25-14) put its first three runners on base against Eric Van Matre with singles from Al Robbins and John Koszulinski and a walk by Joe Turek. With the bases loaded, Tom Lilia hit a ground ball to Heath Williams at second base to set up a potential double play. However, Williams’ flip went high and over shortstop Brady Roundtree’s head.
Illinois picked up two runs in the frame, which was enough for starter Jake Evans and reliever Anthony Narducci.
“I’ve never seen a shortstop or second baseman on this team make an error like that,” said Jayhawks coach Mark Cladis, who complimented the quality of the Portland team and the WBC tournament. “And when the ball flipped over his head, I was stunned. (Saturday) night when we lost to them 5-0 it was all unearned runs. Tonight they had one error, and that was the game.”
Justin Marrero’s leadoff double led to Portland’s only run in the bottom of the fifth.
Julius Patterson had an RBI double in the top of the seventh to give Illinois an insurance run, and Narducci closed out the game with back-to-back strikeouts. Narducci allowed one inherited runner to score in the fifth inning, but got the save as he struck out six batters in the final 2 2/3 innings.
“Their closer came in three innings, and what a closer he is,” said Miller.
The Jayhawks, who also won the WBC title in 2009, earned their second championship after narrowly escaping elimination on Saturday. They needed an Alex Koszulinski walk-off home run to beat the Louisville Angels in eight innings in their opening game. They lost 5-0 later in the day to Portland, and two losses would have relegated them to the consolation game.
But Koszulinski’s heroics, which helped earn him MVP honors, and a 19-5 destruction of the Decatur Dirty Birds on Sunday earned Illinois a spot in the championship.
Evans earned the victory in the title game, no-hitting the Rockets through three innings. He allowed just one run on three hits in 4 1/3 innings before turning the ball over to Narducci.
Tyler Sindewald was the only Jayhawks batter to reach base twice in the title game, driving in a run on a fielder’s choice in the fourth inning and scoring on Patterson’s double after hitting a one-out single to left in the seventh.
Portland will continue its season in the National Amateur Baseball Federation Major Division regional tournament in Fort Wayne. Their first game will be Friday at 10 a.m. against LaMargarita Blues at Concordia High School.
The Rockets rolled to the WBC championship game, outscoring opponents 20-7 in three games. In addition to the shutout of Illinois, they defeated Decatur 8-3 and Louisville 6-2.
Marrero hit a three-run homer to lead Portland’s sixth win of the year over Decatur, and Ben Smith had a pair of triples in the victory over the Jayhawks. Mark Isenberg hit a blast to pace the victory over Louisville.[[In-content Ad]]