Rockets swept in Firecracker tourney

The Rockets’s offense got its job done in the first game, but didn’t have the run stoppers to finish the job.

In the second, it was a struggle to scratch any runs onto the board.

The result was them sitting out of Sunday’s championship game.

The Portland Rockets fell to the South Bend Royals 22-12 and the Indy Orioles 9-1 in pool play of the Firecracker tournament on Saturday.

Despite giving up five early runs, a pair of three-run innings gave Portland a 7-5 advantage on South Bend in the opener.

With a two-run lead, Garrison Brege couldn’t hold the fort down as he allowed two runs to tie in the fourth inning. He then surrendered five runs in the fifth on two walks, a double, a home run and an error.

At that point, the damage was done as Brege took the loss, giving up 12 runs, only six of which were earned, on 12 hits and three walks over five innings.

A trio of relief pitchers couldn’t stop the Royals’ offense as the Rockets (15-7) gave up four more runs in the sixth inning and six in the seventh.

Joel Kennedy led Portland’s offense with four RBIs on a pair of doubles. Corban White provided a strong lift as well with three runs scored on four singles.

Tyler Reynolds gave up a run in the first inning against the Orioles, but Kennedy tied the game up in the third with a single to center field that drove in Trey Pullins.

It was all downhill from there as Reynolds gave up a pair of runs in the top of the fourth and Jayden Simpson and Gehrig Whitlock gave up three each in the seventh.

Five more Rockets reached base in the game, but three of those runners got out on the basepaths.