July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Rockets rally by Goshen (07/26/03)
Portland Rockets
The loser’s bracket had the Portland Rockets by the ankle and was pulling down hard. However, Pete Byrum wriggled them loose and the bats suddenly came alive.
Portland rallied from a 7-1 deficit in its American Amateur Baseball Congress state tournament first round game against the Goshen Indians Friday night for a 14-7 win.
The victory moved the Rockets to the winner’s bracket final, where they will meet either the Indiana Mavericks or the South Bend Indians Saturday at 4 p.m. Saturday’s tournament action begins at 11 a.m. at Memorial Park’s Runkle-Miller Field in Portland.
The Mavericks pounded the Goshen Diamondbacks in Friday’s first tournament game, winning 9-0 in five innings.
Portland (28-4) looked a bit silly early on giving up four unearned runs with starter Matt Ousley on the mound.
The Goshen Indians scored one unearned run in the first inning after a Matt Gard error, earned three runs in the third, and picked up three more of the unearned variety in the fourth inning after a pair of errors by the left side of the infield. They led 7-1, with Portland’s lone score coming on a two-out, second-inning homer from Brandon Dillon.
Then Pete Byrum arrived.
The Jay County graduate allowed a one-out double to score the final two runs in the fourth, but was unstoppable from that point on. He did not allow another hit over the last three innings, and retired the final seven batters he faced.
Byrum’s dominance coincided perfectly with the awakening of the Rocket bats. After escaping the top of the fourth inning, Adam Childs drew a walk to open the bottom of the frame.
A pair of one-out errors by third baseman Thom Newhard allowed James Nowicki and Dillon to reach safely and brought Childs in to score. Luke Momrik connected with an two-run triple, and Matt Gard brought him in with an RBI single to left field two batters later.
The offense only continued to sparkle with Nowicki, Dillon, Momrick and Gard leading the effort. The Rockets took the lead with four runs in the fifth inning, and added four more in the sixth as they nearly ended the contest by way of the eight-run slaughter rule.
They sent 27 batters to the plate in the final three innings after earning just 11 plate appearances over the first three frames.
Momrick and Gard, the No. 7 and 9 hitters, were both a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish. Momrick had a triple, three runs, two RBIs and two stolen bases, and Gard scored once and drove in a run.
Dillon finished with two hits, adding a double to his home run, four runs and two RBIs. Nowicki also had a pair of hits while adding three runs and an RBI.
Mayfield had two hits and two RBIs from his leadoff spot, and Childs scored a pair of runs.
Byrum got the win, shutting out the Indians for four innings. He gave up two walks and struck out four.
Ousley gave up seven runs — three earned — on seven hits in three-plus innings.
John Edwards started and took the loss for Goshen, allowing eight runs, four of which were earned.
John Milton had three hits, two runs and an RBI for the Indians, and Andy Manes went 2-for-4 with one run and three RBIs. Leadoff man Gabe Koser scored twice.
Jay wins at Bloomington
The Jay County seventh grade boys basketball team won one of the American Youth Basketball Tour’s national tournaments held in Bloomington this week.
Jay County won the nine-game tournament, but not without a struggle as it trailed by 15 points in the second half of the championship game against Elida.
Still down by nine with 48 seconds to go, it was forced to foul in an attempt to rally. That’s just what happened as Elida struggled from the stripe, and Josh Myers hit a free throw, and Brandon Buckland grabbed his miss of a second and recorded a 3-point play of his own.
After a couple of misses on the line by Elida, Austin May buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two points. Elida again missed both of its free throws on the other end, and May was fouled on the rebound to earn a chance to tie the game.
May made the first shot and missed the second, but once more Elida missed both of its ensuing free throws. Kyle Cook rebounded the second and hit Buckland with an assist for the winning lay-up.
Buckland had 11 points in the title game, second only to Cook’s 12. Sean Hatzell and May each had eight points.
Buckland was the tournament scoring leader with 72 points, and Cook followed with 57 points.[[In-content Ad]]
Portland rallied from a 7-1 deficit in its American Amateur Baseball Congress state tournament first round game against the Goshen Indians Friday night for a 14-7 win.
The victory moved the Rockets to the winner’s bracket final, where they will meet either the Indiana Mavericks or the South Bend Indians Saturday at 4 p.m. Saturday’s tournament action begins at 11 a.m. at Memorial Park’s Runkle-Miller Field in Portland.
The Mavericks pounded the Goshen Diamondbacks in Friday’s first tournament game, winning 9-0 in five innings.
Portland (28-4) looked a bit silly early on giving up four unearned runs with starter Matt Ousley on the mound.
The Goshen Indians scored one unearned run in the first inning after a Matt Gard error, earned three runs in the third, and picked up three more of the unearned variety in the fourth inning after a pair of errors by the left side of the infield. They led 7-1, with Portland’s lone score coming on a two-out, second-inning homer from Brandon Dillon.
Then Pete Byrum arrived.
The Jay County graduate allowed a one-out double to score the final two runs in the fourth, but was unstoppable from that point on. He did not allow another hit over the last three innings, and retired the final seven batters he faced.
Byrum’s dominance coincided perfectly with the awakening of the Rocket bats. After escaping the top of the fourth inning, Adam Childs drew a walk to open the bottom of the frame.
A pair of one-out errors by third baseman Thom Newhard allowed James Nowicki and Dillon to reach safely and brought Childs in to score. Luke Momrik connected with an two-run triple, and Matt Gard brought him in with an RBI single to left field two batters later.
The offense only continued to sparkle with Nowicki, Dillon, Momrick and Gard leading the effort. The Rockets took the lead with four runs in the fifth inning, and added four more in the sixth as they nearly ended the contest by way of the eight-run slaughter rule.
They sent 27 batters to the plate in the final three innings after earning just 11 plate appearances over the first three frames.
Momrick and Gard, the No. 7 and 9 hitters, were both a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish. Momrick had a triple, three runs, two RBIs and two stolen bases, and Gard scored once and drove in a run.
Dillon finished with two hits, adding a double to his home run, four runs and two RBIs. Nowicki also had a pair of hits while adding three runs and an RBI.
Mayfield had two hits and two RBIs from his leadoff spot, and Childs scored a pair of runs.
Byrum got the win, shutting out the Indians for four innings. He gave up two walks and struck out four.
Ousley gave up seven runs — three earned — on seven hits in three-plus innings.
John Edwards started and took the loss for Goshen, allowing eight runs, four of which were earned.
John Milton had three hits, two runs and an RBI for the Indians, and Andy Manes went 2-for-4 with one run and three RBIs. Leadoff man Gabe Koser scored twice.
Jay wins at Bloomington
The Jay County seventh grade boys basketball team won one of the American Youth Basketball Tour’s national tournaments held in Bloomington this week.
Jay County won the nine-game tournament, but not without a struggle as it trailed by 15 points in the second half of the championship game against Elida.
Still down by nine with 48 seconds to go, it was forced to foul in an attempt to rally. That’s just what happened as Elida struggled from the stripe, and Josh Myers hit a free throw, and Brandon Buckland grabbed his miss of a second and recorded a 3-point play of his own.
After a couple of misses on the line by Elida, Austin May buried a 3-pointer to cut the lead to two points. Elida again missed both of its free throws on the other end, and May was fouled on the rebound to earn a chance to tie the game.
May made the first shot and missed the second, but once more Elida missed both of its ensuing free throws. Kyle Cook rebounded the second and hit Buckland with an assist for the winning lay-up.
Buckland had 11 points in the title game, second only to Cook’s 12. Sean Hatzell and May each had eight points.
Buckland was the tournament scoring leader with 72 points, and Cook followed with 57 points.[[In-content Ad]]
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