Royals stifle Rockets’ bats

The Rockets have been sliding heading into the postseason.

They needed to win at least one game to finish .500 in the regular season.

It wasn’t to be.

The Portland Rockets couldn’t silence the South Bend Royals on Sunday, as they dropped the doubleheader at Runkle-Miller Field 11-5, 14-0.

The loss will put them on an eight-game losing streak going into the playoffs.

The Royals jumped on top of Tyler Reynolds early, scoring nine runs over the first three innings in the first game. He finished the game with eight earned runs on nine hits, getting pulled from the game in the middle of the second inning.

Portland (15-17) retaliated with a two-run home run by Joel Kennedy in the bottom of the first inning, but could not keep up after that, only scoring three more runs in the game. Crosby Heniser drove in two of the runs with a double in the bottom of the fourth.

Chaz Bellman and Derek Grabner led the Royals offense with three RBIs apiece.

The Rockets had a similar poor start to game two, when Garrison Brege gave up six runs in the first inning, and two more over the next two.

Heniser would give up another six-run inning in the fourth to the Royals.

The Rockets could never get their bats going, amounting only four hits in the game.

Will Swisher led the way for South Bend with four RBIs while CJ Schwartz dominated on the mound.

Academic all-state

Two Jay County High School graduates were recognized for their play on the baseball field and work in the classroom this past school year.

Earlier this month, the Indiana High School Baseball Coaches Association named Patriots Josh Dowlen and Dusty Pearson to the 2023 Academic All-State Team.

Dowlen led Jay County in runs scored, crossing home plate 32 times during the season and patrolled center field for the Patriots.

After missing the first half of the season with an injury, Pearson came back to finish the season with a .270 batting average.

The list of over 200 high school baseball players from all four classes includes four more players from the Allen County Athletic Conference. Those players are Ryan Black (Adams Central), Dalton J. White (Heritage), Kedrik Sonnigsen (Southern Wells) and Austin Snyder (Woodlan).