Bankers beat Rockets, again

UPLAND — Portland fell behind early.
It chipped away at the deficit, but a double play late in the game put an end to any hopes the Rockets had of keeping their winning streak alive.
The Twin City Bankers scored five runs — two earned — in the first inning, and held off a slow rally to beat the Portland Rockets 6-4 on Tuesday at Taylor University.
“We walked two and hit one (batter) that first inning,” said Portland manager Randy Miller, whose team had its seven-game winning streak end. Portland is now 8-2, with both losses having come at the hands of Taylor’s summer league team. “That set the table for them. The floodgates opened for five.
“They got a crooked number and we didn’t. That was the bottom line.”
Portland starter Jimmy West struggled to find the strike zone early, walking the leadoff hitter and then plunking Jared Adkins in the back.
Two consecutive passed balls allowed a run to score, and back-to-back RBI singles gave the Bankers a quick 3-0 advantage.
Portland third baseman Alex Delk got the second out of the inning by cutting down a runner at the plate on a tag by catcher Jagen Millspaugh, but a walk loaded the bases yet again for Twin City.
Trevor Booth hit a ground ball to Delk, and first baseman Thomas McCowan, a Dunkirk native, couldn’t handle the throw and two more runs came across.
“I need to attack more,” said West, who was making his first start of the season.  “I just need to come out and battle in the first inning. That’s all there is to it.
“To play on this team you have to be able to battle, hit your zone and throw strikes.”
West settled down over the next three frames, despite hitting two more batters. In the fourth, he had runners on first and second with one gone, but induced a pop fly to Dalton Tinsley in center field and a ground ball to shortstop Austin Branock to get out of the jam.
“I started to relax, which is what I need to start doing more,” West said. “Pitching is all mental. It’s all it is. If you go out there with the right mindset you’ll be an effective pitcher.”
Meanwhile, Portland slowly got itself back in the game following the early 5-1 deficit. After Tinsley scored in the first inning on an RBI double by Millspaugh, the Rockets added runs in each of the third, fourth and fifth frames.
Brandon Reamon and Millspaugh hit back-to-back singles with one out before Delk was robbed of a base hit by a sliding catch in center field. TJ Lindstrand, who was one of four Rockets with multi-hit games, drove in Reamon with a single over the second baseman’s head.
Tinsley, Reamon and Millspaugh had two hits apiece, with the latter two each recording an RBI.
In the fourth, McCowan drew a leadoff walk and moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Branock. Two batters later Reamon hit a single through the right side to score McCowan, cutting the Twin City lead to 5-3.
Lindstrand began the fifth inning with a double to left field and moved to third on a wild pitch before 2014 Jay County High School graduate Kyle Selvey drove him in on a sacrifice fly to center field.
Twin City answered with an insurance run in the bottom of the frame to make it 6-4.
Portland had a chance in the eighth by getting the leadoff runner on, but Twin City pitcher Sam Wiese induced a double play to end the threat, and the Rockets went down in order in the ninth.
“We scrapped, we made it close,” said Miller, whose team out-hit the Bankers 9-4. “I was hoping to see if they could close it out and they did. They made the plays at the end.
“I guess we tip our cap. When the had to make a defensive play they seemed to have one in store.”