Rockets hang on against Sluggers

Mitch Waters pitched the Rockets to a lead.
Portland’s bullpen nearly blew it.
The Summit City Sluggers scored two runs in the ninth inning, but relief pitcher Tyler Reynolds left the potential tying run at second base as the Portland Rockets held on for a 6-4 victory Thursday night.
But following the victory, Portland manager Randy Miller was not happy.
“(We) got the chance to put people away and we’re not getting it done,” said Miller, whose team gave up a comfortable lead for the second time this season. Portland led Grand Lake 10-3 late before the Mariners mounted their comeback. The Rockets eventually won 10-9.
“Two hit batsmen and a walk in the last inning with a 6-2 lead, that would make the heart rate climb a little bit,” Miller said. His Rocket squad has won six straight games since dropping the season opener May 24 in a doubleheader against Taylor University. “That leaves a little taste in your mouth. Maybe our guys need some humble pie.”
Making his second start of the season, Waters kept Summit City’s offense to a minimum. He tossed six strong innings, giving up two runs — one earned — on two hits while walking two and striking out eight.
“I’m getting stronger,” said Waters, a 2002 Jay County High School graduate. “I felt decent. I didn’t hit the location all the time, but enough to get the outs that I needed.
“The (strikeouts) surprised me, and even the walks, just considering I was behind in the count a lot. I figured I would walk more than that, but I was able to bounce back and get some easy ground balls.”
Dan Bollenbacher pitched two scoreless innings of relief, and Connor Milligan entered in the ninth to close out game.
Conner Lengerich hit a single to lead off the frame before Jamar Weaver popped out to Dalton Tinsley in center field for the first out. Milligan then hit back-to-back batters to load the bases and bring the potential tying run to the plate.
Milligan threw a pitch in the dirt that rolled to the backstop to allow Lengerich to score, and a wild pitch to Austin Plasteres with the count full gave Summit City another run with runners at the corners. Plasteres would steal second on defensive indifference.
Miller went back to his bullpen to bring in Reynolds. The Southpaw from Muncie Southside got Dylan Hendricks to go down swinging and induced Dalton Combs into grounding out to shortstop Alex Delk to end the game.
“I expect to be better than our opponents every inning,” Miller said. “You look at this game, if we pitch differently the outcome could have been different.”
Summit City (3-4) got on the scoreboard first, pushing across two runs in the third inning off Waters. Plasteres hit a double to give the Sluggers runners at second and third with no outs. Hendricks drove in a run on a ground out to then-Rocket shortstop Kyle Selvey. Two batters later, Tanner Andrews bounced out to Selvey, allowing Plasteres to score for a 2-0 Summit City advantage.
Portland (6-1) started its scoring with a run in the fourth. TJ Lindstrand reached on an error and advanced to second on the first of two sacrifice bunts from Selvey. Thomas McCowan, who was hitless in his previous five games, broke the slump with an RBI single down the right field line to drive in Lindstrand.
In the fifth, Sluggers’ starter Nick McCoy was ahead of Selvey 0-2 with bases loaded, but the 2014 JCHS grad drove the next pitch back up the middle for a two-run single, giving Portland a 3-2 advantage.
McCoy was credited with the loss, giving up three runs — two earned — on five hits. He struck out seven and walked three in five innings.
“McCoy … has some talent,” said Summit City manager Andy McLain. “He does a nice job.
“Selvey came up with a nice big hit to help break them through. You know when you come here it’s going to be good baseball and they’re going to compete.”
Portland added two more runs in the sixth on RBI singles from Brandon Reamon and Bill Geeslin, and Delk hit a sac fly in the seventh for the Rockets’ sixth and final run.
Geeslin had three hits to lead the Rockets, who out-hit the Sluggers 10-4. Dalton Tinsley had a double and a single, and Chris Miller also added a single.