Rockets win NABF regional crown

CINCINNATI — It was a beautiful day in Cincinnati.
The Portland Rockets won three elimination games in less than 18 hours and dominated the two-time defending champion Cincinnati Chiefs 10-2 in the championship game to win the National Amateur Baseball Federation regional tournament.
The victory marks the first NABF regional title in the 53-year existence of the Rockets. They advance to play in the NABF World Series, which begins Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y.
Jay County High School graduate Mitch Waters pitched his hometown team to the title, going the distance for Portland (30-10) in the championship win. He got plenty of help from the offense as Zach Tanner blasted a pair of home runs and Justin Marrero added another as part of a four-hit performance.
After the Rockets fell 12-7 to Cincinnati Friday evening, they immediately took on the Chiefs again in their first elimination game. They batted around the order in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead, and went on to finish off a 12-6 win at about 1 a.m. Saturday.
They returned to action Saturday afternoon with Justin Miller going the distance and giving up just four hits while striking out seven batters in a 12-2 victory over the Yorktown Yaks. Chris Miller, Billy Geeslin and Kirby Campbell all hit home runs in the third inning to help earn a berth in the championship game.
Billy Wellman, JCHS class of 2009, and Tanner led a Portland power surge, each hitting a pair of home runs as the Rockets blasted eight overall in the five-game tournament. Wellman and Marrero each had eight hits, Kirby Campbell added seven and JCHS graduate Thomas McCowan and Tanner finished with six apiece.
Tanner totalled seven runs and six RBIs.[[In-content Ad]]