Happy to be home

The Rockets dropped three of four on the road over the weekend.

Returning home Thursday, they got back to their winning ways.

Portland pounded the Summit City Sluggers 13-0, staying perfect at Runkle-Miller Field by scoring in every inning.

“It was nice to be home and not have to travel three hours to get to a game site, which is taxing itself,” Portland manager Randy Miller said. “We healed up a little bit, got our hitting shoes on today, looked like an offensive team, and we’ll hope to ride this into our defending champion tournament.”

Derek Thobe was in control throughout the night for Portland (10-5). He didn’t give up a hit until the fourth inning and allowed just two in five innings of work as he earned the win.

And Portland played error-free baseball, something Thobe said eases his mind when he’s on the mound.

“Whenever the players are making plays, I build off that,” said Thobe, who gave way to Zach Tanner for a one-two-three final inning. “It gives me confidence, and I know I just have to throw it in there and they’ll make a play.”

“It felt pretty good to be back out there,” said Thobe, who hadn’t pitched in nearly two weeks. “My off-speed wasn’t there all the way. I mean, a little rusty a week and a half off.”

One of those plays came in the fourth inning when Cole Stigleman, a 2018 JCHS graduate, reached second base after registering Summit City’s first hit. Grant Thompson looked to do the same, driving a ball that looked to be dropping quickly into center. Terry Dawn, a 2018 South Adams graduate, sprinted forward, though, making a grab to record the out and hold Stigleman at second.

Miller gushed over the hustle his center fielder displayed.

“That catch in center field was very special,” Miller said. “It’s like you see on TV. Terry Dawn covered some ground, rolled over and held onto the ball. Sweet.”

The Portland offense was just as steady and consistent as the pitching and defense, and it got some help from the sluggish Sluggers slingers. A combined five wild pitches, seven walks and three batters hit by a pitch made for a forgettable outing by Max Minich, Nolan Lehemoff and Matt Shapiro. And when the trio did throw the ball over the plate, the Portland bats were often able to connect for hits.

“Control-wise we weren’t quite there,” Summit City manager Todd Farr said. “Hitting-wise I feel like we need to widen out a little bit, shorten up and try to put it on the ground somewhere. You aren’t going to do anything if you keep hitting fly balls to those guys.”

The Sluggers had 10 fly outs on the night compared to just four for the Rockets.

In the first inning, Zach Tanner and Chris Gaines both put the ball in nearly identical spots down the left-field line, and Gaines’ hit drove in the game’s first two runs.

By the end of the night, every Portland batter who made multiple plate appearances scored a run.