Rockets stay hot in win

FORT WAYNE — As the temperatures increase for the boys of summer, the offense continues to stay hot.
Three players hit home runs and Derek Thobe pitched five strong innings of relief Wednesday as the Portland Rockets defeated the Northeast Kekionga 13-9 at Indiana Tech.
It is the ninth straight victory for Portland, which hosts the Whitko Royals for a doubleheader Sunday.
Coldwater, Ohio, native Bill Geeslin hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning to give Portland (23-5) a 5-2 advantage. Yorktown product Zach Tanner, who already had 13 round-trippers on the season, followed a blast to center field for a 6-2 Rocket advantage. It was his fifth home run in the last four games.
Tanner finished 3-for-4 with two doubles to continue his hitting tear. He is now 11-for-19 (.579) in his last five games.
Two innings later, Kevin Sharp joined the long-ball action, lofting a three-run shot to left field to put Portland on top 10-5.
Portland finished with 13 hits, with Mitch Waters, Alex Delk and Sharp each adding multi-hit games.
Rocket starter Andrew Bobeck failed to get out of the second inning, as he had to leave with a blister on his throwing hand. Thobe, also a Coldwater native, struck out four in five innings of relief to earn the victory.
Delk and Waters had clean eighth and ninth innings respectively to preserve the win.