Rockets shake off Shady Nook

FORT WAYNE - Often the Rockets' late-inning outbursts simply increase their margin of victory. Thursday night, they needed the rally.

Portland fell behind 3-0 and trailed 7-3 to Shady Nook before scoring four times in the sixth inning and once in the ninth to take an 8-7 victory.

With the game tied in the top of the ninth, singles by Jay County High School graduate Heath Williams and Riley Muhlenkamp and a walk from Thomas McCowan (JCHS) loaded the bases. Pinch runner Dustin Woods gave the Rockets (20-10) the lead as he scored on a wild pitch.

Daniel Bollenbacher, a South Adams High School graduate, tossed the ninth for the save.

The ninth-inning effort was made possible by a lock-down pitching performance from Josh Shatto, as well as a big sixth inning on the offensive side.

Shatto (JCHS) entered the game in the third inning and immediately put Shady Nook away with a strikeout. He tossed five more innings, allowed just one unearned run on three hits while striking out five batters.

With Shatto shutting down the opposition, Cameron Branock, Josh Ludy (JCHS) and Jensen Painter racked up consecutive hits in the sixth inning. Kris Gottschall drove in two runs with a double, and Ryan Shell had an RBI single to tie the game.

Gottschall led the offense overall with three hits and three RBIs as every Portland player had at least one hit for a total of 14. Ludy and Painter added two hits apiece.

The Rockets' rally lifted them to their 11th win in the last 13 games.[[In-content Ad]]