Delk delivers again

Alex Delk had been the catalyst to the Portland Rocket offense in each of the previous two games.
Against the Fort Wayne Panthers on Wednesday at Runkle-Miller Field, Delk once again put on a show.
The Cowan High School product blasted a three-run home run in the first inning, had the game winning hit in the bottom of the seventh and recorded the win on the mound as the Rockets defeated the Panthers 5-4.
“It always feels good to come back and win like that, especially in a tight game,” said Delk, whose home run in the bottom of the first was his third in as many games. “This is the last game of the season. It feels great to end on a win.”
With the game tied at four in the bottom of the seventh, Portland (16-5) got a leadoff double from South Adams graduate Collin Affolder. He ripped a 3-1 offering from former Rocket Evan Van Gordon down the left field line as the ball hit third base and trickled to the outfield. The Bethel College sophomore rounded first and headed to second before hooking a headfirst slide into second ahead of Tristen Sprunger’s throw from left.
Bill Geeslin, who was celebrating his 25th birthday, blooped his only hit of the game into shallow left field to give Portland runners at the corners with no outs. Fort Wayne manager Chris Howell elected to intentionally walk Jagen Millspaugh to load the bases and create a force play at home.
“Both (Millspaugh) and (Delk) are really good hitters, so we thought, ‘Pick your poison,’” Howell said. “We went righty on righty.
“With the infield playing as slow as it was we were keeping everyone in. … We got what we wanted. We got a ground ball. It just took a hop we didn’t like. That’s how baseball is sometimes.”
Delk, who sat down the Panthers in order in the top of the inning, approached his at-bat in the bottom of the frame just looking to hit the ball hard. He took Van Gordon’s first pitch for a strike, and the next one hit him on the elbow for what would have been a walk-off hit by pitch.
That is, until the home plate umpire said Delk leaned into it.
“I never question an umpire,” Delk said of being called back into the batter’s box. The pitch was ruled a ball. “If he’s going to call me back then I take it as a challenge.”
So Delk chopped the next pitch to drawn-in second baseman Ian Bellville, who leaped to stop the ball from going into the outfield. By the time he gathered himself to make a throw, Affolder had already crossed the plate for the winning run.
“I was looking for a pitch I could drive or hit hard on the ground,” Delk said.
Just like he put his team on top to win the game, Delk hit a blast to give the Rockets a lead in the first inning.
Affolder was hit by a pitch to begin the bottom of the first, and reached second safely on a throwing error off the bat of Geeslin. Fort Wayne starter Jake Webber got Millspaugh to go down looking at strike three before Delk approached the plate. Webber fell behind 2-0 before tossing two strikes to even the count.
“He threw me a curveball and I saw it the first time,” Delk said of the called second strike. “It was a little hanger. He threw it in the same spot and I saw it — same path and everything.”
The ball landed about 25 feet beyond the fence in left field, a no-doubter once it left the bat and sailed through the partly-cloudy sky.
Fort Wayne scored its first run in the third inning on a ground out by Tyler Zimske, and Portland answered with an RBI single from Millspaugh to make it 4-1 in favor of the Rockets.
The Panthers tied the game at four with three runs in the fifth, thanks to a two-out, two-run double by Keaton Sullivan. James Spera hit a towering fly ball between home plate and the pitchers’ mound that led to a communication error by the Portland defense. Sullivan scored from second as the ball dropped for a base hit 10 feet in front of home plate.
Fort Wayne had a chance to take its first lead of the game in the sixth with the bases full and one out, but birthday boy Geeslin struck out the side in relief to end the threat.
“It’s always good to get back up there,” said Geeslin, who has mostly given up pitching after a pair of arm surgeries. It was his third appearance of the season. “I would have liked to thrown more strikes, that’s for sure.”
Geeslin walked the first batter he faced. But no damage was done, and he gave way to Delk in the seventh to seal the win, both on the mound and at the plate.
“I wasn’t even expecting Delk to be here today,” said Portland manager Randy Miller, whose team hosts the World Baseball Congress tournament this weekend. The Rockets open at 6:15 p.m. Friday against the Fort Wayne Jackers.