Rockets suffer another one-run defeat

FORT WAYNE — They’ve been close, but they’ve come up short.

The Portland Rockets couldn’t hold off a rally in the ninth inning Friday night as they fell 9-8 to the Fort Wayne Jackers.

Portland (2-7) led the Jackers 8-6 heading into the final frame, having scored all of its runs in the first three innings. But then Fort Wayne (11-0) bats came alive to tie the game and then load the bases. The Rockets recorded a pair of force outs at the plate, but then allowed the game-winning run to score on an error.

It was the second one-run loss in a row for Portland, which had its own rally come up short Wednesday in a 4-3 loss to the Richmond Roosters.

Zach Tanner blasted a home run for the Rockets and finished with four RBIs. Dustin Lewis recorded three hits.

Titles decided

PENNVILLE — Two undefeated teams held strong Saturday while the third was handed its first loss in the championship game in Pennville Soccer League.

The Vinson Rental Properties Wasps and Hanlin Real Estate Jaguars both stayed perfect with wins of 6-3 over Pennville United Methodist Hornets and 5-0 over Adair Processing Lions, respectively. The El Camino Real Meteors stunned the Display Craft Galaxy 2-1 in the Space Division finale.

The Wasps were in danger of suffering their first loss of the season in the Stinger Division title game, trailing 2-0 at halftime. But Carsten Penrod racked up four second-half goals to lead his team to victory.

The Jaguars, meanwhile, were in control throughout in the Wildcat Division. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead at halftime en route to the five-goal win with Jacoby Penrod tallying four goals.

Kinze Homan scored both goals for the Meteors in the first half to give her team a 2-1 lead. The squads played scoreless soccer in the second half as the Meteors handed the Galaxy their first defeat of the year.

Thwaits wins

SPOKANE, Wash. — Nick Thwaits has his first victory as a Dust Devil.

Thwaits, a 2018 Fort Recovery High School graduate, tossed six strong innings Wednesday in Tri-City’s 5-2 win over the Spokane Indians.

After allowing a pair of runs in the first inning, Thwaits shut down Spokane for the rest of his time on the hill. He went six innings and struck out three batters while allowing two runs on six hits and two walks for Tri-City, the short-season Class A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

The Dust Devils (6-7) scored twice in the fifth inning and once in the sixth to put Thwaits in position for the win. Dan Dallas and Deacon Medders combined to toss three scoreless innings of relief.

Thwaits is now 1-1 with a 3.77 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings.