Portage South Forces a Second Game, but Falls Short of Championship

Portage South earned their way back through the consolation bracket to face the Ohio Gamecocks in the League Championship.  PS would need to win twice to take home the title.  In the first game, the Black Squirrels got on the board right away with a run in the first inning.  Ron Spears singled follwed by a Phil Smith single to move Spears to second.  Spears would score on a Jesse Michel single.  The Gamecocks would tie the game in the bottom of the second.  Portage South would grab the lead back in the third when Smith led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error.  He would move up to third on a deep fly ball by Ty Moorhead and scored on a Michel groundout.  In the fifth, PS added 2 more runs to make the game 4-1.  Spears reached on a fielder's choice and scored when Smith followed him with a homerun to left centerfield.  The Gamecocks would get a run in the seventh, but the Black Squirrels held on to force a second game for the championship.  Kevin Haley went all 7 innings for the win, retiring 18 in a row at one point.  Smith was 3-4 with 2 runs, 2 RBI and a homerun.

In game two, the Gamecocks got the early lead with a run in the top of the first.  PS came right back in the bottom half of the inning to tie it at 1-1.  Mike Darrah would walk and move to second on Ron Spears' single.  A fielder's choice would move Darrah to third where he would score on a wild pitch.  In the second inning, the Gamecocks broke the game open with 9 runs in the inning.  They would tack on another run in the third and win the game 11-1.

Portage South Advances to the Championship Game

Portage South faced the Akron Irish for the second time in the league tournament for the chance to play in the championship.  PS got out to an early lead with a run in the first inning.  Mike Darrah reached on an error then stole second base.  Jimmy Jamieson singled home Darrah for the 1-0 lead.  The Black Squirrels would add to the lead with a run in the third inning.  It was again Darrah, helping himself, with a single and moved to third on a Ron Spears single.  Darrah would score on a Jamieson sacrifice fly.  Portage South tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning when Phil Smith walked and stole second.  Ty Moorhead would single, moving Smith to third and a Jesse Michel single would score Smith.  The Irish would get a run in the seventh inning, but fell short 3-1.  Darrah went the distance for PS, striking out five and allowing just the one run.  Mike Haney led the offense with 2 hits.

Portage South Loses to Gamecocks

#2 seeded Portage South Black Squirrels faced the #1 seeded Ohio Gamecocks in the winner's bracket final at Hudson on Tuesday.  The Gamecocks struck first with a run in the first inning and extend the lead to 2-0 in the third.  In the fourth inning, the Gamecocks took control with a 3-run frame, extending the lead to 5-0.  Portage South would load the bases in each of the final two innings, but were unable to push a run across as they lost 5-0.  Ron Spears and Phil Smith had 2 hits each for the PS offensive attack.

Portage South Advances to Winner's Bracket Final

Portage South faced Akron Irish in the league tournament on Sunday for the chance to advance to the winner's bracket final.  PS scored a run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead.  Ron Spears walked, then Phil Smith followed with a single to move Spears to second.  Ty Moorhead would then double to score Spears.  Portage South would extend the lead in the third inning when Smith would homered down the left field line, making it 2-0.  The Irish would get a run back in the fourth, cutting the lead to 2-1.  PS was able to hold off the Irish in the fifth, when they loaded the bases with no outs but were unable to score.  The Black Squirrels' offense exploded in the sixth with a 6-run inning to blow the game open.  Kevin Yelinek singled and Lyndon Rainey was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second.  Jesse Michel would double with 2 outs, bringing home Yelinek and Rainey.  Spears would single home Michel to make it 5-1.  Smith would double home Alonzo Spears, who was pinch running, and Smith would score on Moorhead's triple.  Moorhead scored on an error, giving PS the 8-1 lead.  The Irish scored a run in the seventh to make the final score 8-2.  Kevin Haley went the distance on the mound for the victory, striking out seven.  Smith was 3-4 with a double, homerun and 2 RBI.  Moorhead also had 3 hits with a double, triple and 2 RBI.

Portage South Wins Tourney Opener

Portage South opened the 2018 League Tournament hosting the Tallmadge Knights.  The Knights scored a run in the top of the first inning to grab an early lead.  Mike Darrah led off the bottom of the first inning with a homerun to left field to tie the game.  Ty Moorhead reached on a fielder's choice, then stole second.  He was advanced to third on a Jesse Michel single.  A Justin Nelson groundout scored Moorhead to make it a 2-1 game.  PS would add another run in the fourth inning.  With 2 outs in the inning, Mike Haney singled for the first of three straight hits.  Haney's single was followed with singles by Jimmy Jamieson and Kevin Yelinek.  Yelinek's single would score Haney.  The Black Squirrels added another run in the fifth to make it 4-1.  In the sixth, Portage South opened the game up with a 4-run inning.  Darrah would go the distance on the mound, striking out 11 and allowing just the one run, for the win.  PS will face the Akron Irish in the second round of the tournament.

Portage South Drops 2 to End the Regular Season

Portage South would face the Akron Bullets in the final doubleheader of the regular season.  In game one, the Bullets pushed a run across in the first inning.  Portage South came right back in the second with a run to tie the game.   Lyndon Rainey doubled with one out, followed by a Brady Haba single that moved Rainey to third.  Jesse Michel would then score Rainey on his sacrifice fly.  The Bullets would score 2 runs in the third and two more in the fourth to lead 5-1.  PS got a run back in the fifth when Michel doubled, stole third and scored on a Ron Spears sacrifice fly.  The Bullets would add one more run in the sixth to win 6-2.  Michel was 2-3 with a run and a RBI.

Game two had the Bullets once again score first with a run in the third inning.  The Black Squirrels tied the game in the fourth at 1-1.  Ron Spears singled to right field, then moved to second when Jason Preising was hit by a pitch.  Mike Haney would single to load the bases and Jimmy Jamieson would hit a sacrifice fly to score Spears.  The score would remain tied 1-1 into extra innings.  In the eighth, The Bullets were able to get a RBI double from Matt Easterwood to go ahead 2-1 and held on for the victory.  Portage South finished the regular season at 15-6.

Portage South Earns Victory Number 15 on the Year

Portage South played their third game in three days when they faced Nordonia on Thursday.  PS would get out to an early lead with 2 runs in the second inning.  Kevin Yelinek would walk and move to second on a single by Lyndon Rainey.  Steve Swiger would bunt them over and Yelinek would score on a throwing error.  Rainey scored on a double steal with Alonzo Spears stealing second drawing the throw to allow Rainey to score.  It would remain 2-0 until the fifth inning when Nordonia pushed 3 runs across and take the lead, 3-2.  The Black Squirrels would answer in the top of the sixth with 3 runs of their own.  Jason Preising would lead off the inning with a double, then Yelinek reached on a sacrifice bunt that got by the pitcher.  Rainey would single to score Preising and tie the game.  Swiger again moved the runners to second and third with another sacrifice bunt.  Spears would follow with a single to right, scoring Yelinek and Rainey for a 5-3 lead.  Bob Haney got the win in relief for Portage South on the mound.  Preising and Moorhead were both 2-4 with a double to lead the offense.

Portage South Wins 2 Over Nordonia

Portage South came into Sunday having lost their last 6 against the Nordonia Renegades.  In the first game, Nordonia got out to an early lead with a run in the second and another run in the third inning.  Portage South would score 8 runs with two outs to grab the lead and put the game away.  Jesse Michel would walk with one out, followed by a Ron Spears' single.  Ty Moorhead then got PS on the board with a single that scored Michel.  Joe Watts singled home Spears and Jason Preising doubled to score Moorhead and Watts.  Preising would score on a single by Kevin Yelinek, then walks by Justin Nelson and Brady Haba loaded the bases.  Michel would double and score all three runners.  Drew Mendik threw 3 innings in relief to pick up the victory on the mound.  Preising, Spears and Watts each had 2 hits to lead the offense.

The Black Squirrels got off to a faster start in game two as they were able to push a run across in the first inning.  Jesse Michel walked, then Ron Spears followed with a single.  Phil Smith would then plate Michel with a single.  PS got 2 more runs in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead.  Kevin Yelinek would walk and move to third on a Jason Preising double.  Yelinek would score on a single by Brady Haba.  Haba stole second, moved to third on a single by Michel and scored on a sacrifice fly by Spears.  Portage South would increase the lead to 4-0 with an RBI groundout by Yelinek.  The Renegades scored 3 runs in the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 4-3.  Nordonia tied the game in the bottom of the sixth and forced the game into extra innings.  In the top of the ninth, PS would score 2 runs to take the lead and hold on to win the game 6-4.  Preising would single to start the inning.  Haba then had a bunt single.  Phil Kaderle would hit into a fielder's choice and a wild pitch moved runners to second and third.  Lyndon Rainey would then single to left, scoring Haba and Kaderle.  Steve Swiger threw the last 3 innings of scoreless relief for the win.  Preising and Haba had 3 hits each to lead Portage South.

Portage South Takes 2 of 3 over the Weekend

Portage South played 3 games in 2 days.  The first was against the Ohio Gamecocks on Saturday.  The Gamecocks got 2 runs in the first inning to grab the early lead.  Then the Gamecocks opened the game up with a 5-run third inning to go up, 7-0.  Portage South could not get their offense on track in this one and the Gamecocks pushed 4 more runs across to win 11-0.  Phil Smith was 2-3 in the loss.  Ron Spears and Jason Preising each added a single.

On Sunday, Portage South would face the Akron Rays in a doubleheader.  In game one, PS scored first with a run in the second inning.  Ty Moorhead singled and stole second.  Jesse Michel would double home Moorhead.  The Rays would tie the game with a run in the fourth, but Portage South got 2 more runs in the fifth to take back the lead.  Phil Smith walked and stole second.  Moorhead tripled home Smith and he was able to score on an overthrow that went out of play.  Kevin Haley went 5 innings, allowing 1 run for the win.  Mike Darrah threw 2 scoreless to pick up the save.

Game 2 was another back and forth contest.  The Rays struck first in this one with a run in the second inning.  Portage South came back with 2 runs in the bottom half of the second to take a 2-1 advantage.  Ty Moorhead would single to start the inning.  Justin Nelson would follow with a single that moved Moorhead to third.  Nelson would then get in a run down to allow Moorhead to steal home.  Jesse Michel and Lyndon Rainey would walk to load the bases and Nelson would then score on a wild pitch.  Akron Rays came right back with another run in the third to tie the game at 2-2.  The Black Squirrels got a run in the fifth inning when Kaderle doubled and was moved to third on a Ron Spears sacrifice bunt. Kaderle would later score on a wild pitch.  The Rays again tied the game at 3-3 with a run in the sixth inning.  In the bottom of the seventh inning, Mike Darrah would lead off the inning with a double.  Spears would walk then they intentionally walked Phil Smith to load the bases.  Moorhead would single home Darrah for the 4-3 victory.  Darrah would pick up the win on the mound in relief.  Eric Schaffer went 5 strong innings to start the game for Portage South on the mound.  Moorhead was 3-4 with a 2B and the GWRBI.

Big Comeback in Game 1 Leads to a DH Sweep

Portage South would face the Bomb Squad in a doubleheader Sunday afternoon.  In the first game, the Bomb Squad got a run in the first and 3 more runs in the third to hold a 4-0 lead.  PS would comeback with 2 runs in the bottom of the third to close the gap to 4-2.  Brady Haba doubled to start off the inning and moved to third on a groundout.  Ron Spears would hit a sacrifice fly to score Haba for the first run.  Phil Smith would then walk, steal second and move to third on a passed ball.  Ty Moorhead would follow with a single to score Smith.  The Bomb Squad would score 3 more runs in the fifth inning to take a commanding 7-2 lead.  In the sixth inning, the Black Squirrels bats would wake up and they scored 8 runs in the inning to take a 10-7 advantage.  Moorhead and Justin Nelson would walk to lead off the inning, followed by a Mike Haney single to load the bases.  Jesse Michel would then hit a grand slam to pull Portage South within one run.  Joe Watts would follow with a single and steal second base.  Watts was able to score on a Haba infield single.  Haba would steal second and move to third on a wild pitch.  He scored on Jimmy Jamieson's sacrifice fly.  Smith would then double and score on a single by Moorhead.  Nelson drove in Moorhead with a single of his own to make the score 10-7.  Kevin Haley went 6 innings for the win.  Phil Kaderle threw a scoreless 7th for the save.  Michel was 2-3 with a homerun and 4 RBI.

In the second game, Portage South kept the offensive momentum and scored 3 runs in second inning for the early lead.  Justin Nelson and Mike Haney each singled.  Nelson would score on a groundout by Joe Watts.  Brady Haba would single to score Haney and Haba would score on the Jimmy Jamieson single.  The Bomb Squad got a run in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-1, but in the top of the fifth inning PS would tack on 3 more runs.  Jason Preising was hit by a pitch, followed by a Ron Spears single.  Ty Moorhead would single home Preising, then Nelson hits a double in the gap to score Spears and Moorhead.  Portage South would add 3 runs in the sixth and 3 more in the seventh to win 12-1.  Drew Mendik picked up the win on the mound for PS.  Alonzo Spears had another strong outing in relief for Portage South with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing no hits.  Spears was 3-4 with an RBI and run scored.

PS Drops a Close One to the Defending Champions

Portage South faced last season's league champions, Ohio Gamecocks.  The Gamecocks would get a run in the second inning to lead 1-0 early.  PS tied the game in the third with a run at 1-1.  Lyndon Rainey and Kevin Haley each walked to start the inning.  Jimmy Jamieson followed with a single that scored Rainey.  The score would remained tied until the seventh inning.  In the top of the seventh, four straight singles for Portage South scored the go-ahead run.  Haley led off the inning with a singled, followed by Jamieson, Ron Spears and Justin Nelson.  Nelson's single scored Haley for the lead.  Unfortunately for the Black Squirrels, the Gamecocks would get 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh for the victory.  Spears had a double and single to lead the offense for PS. 

Portage South Sweeps DH with Lead Academy

Game 1 of the doubleheader had Portage South score a run in the first to take the lead and never looked back.  Ron Spears singled with one out in the first inning and eventually scored on an error by the catcher.  In the second, Jesse Michel would single followed by a Kevin Yelinek double to give PS runners at second and third.  Michel would steal home for the first run of the inning.  Jimmy Jamieson would then double home Yelinek to make the score 3-0.  The Black Squirrels scored 2 more runs over the next 3 innings and win 5-0.  Kevin Haley threw a complete game shutout for Portage South, allowing just 3 hits and striking out six.  Spears went 3-4 with a run scored to lead the offense.

In the second game, PS scored in the 2nd inning.  Joe Watts doubled and scored on a Kevin Haley single.  Portage South scored six runs in the third inning to increase the lead to 7-0.  Watts and Haley each had 2-run doubles in the inning.  The Black Squirrels added a run in the fourth and another in the fifth to push the lead to 9-0.  Ron Spears would double in the 5th inning and score on a single by Mike Haney.  In the sixth, Watts would hit a 2-run homerun to make the score 11-0 headed to the bottom of the inning.  The Lead Academy fought back with 5 runs in the sixth, but the game would end with a 11-5 win for PS.  Eric Schaffer got the win on the mound for Portage South.  Watts was 3-3 with 2 2Bs, HR and 4 RBI. 

Portage South Beats Irish

Portage South looked to even the season series with the Irish.  PS would get 2 runs in the third inning for the early lead in this one.  Jimmy Jamieson would double and score on wild pitch.  Phil Smith would also double and was driven in by a Ty Moorhead single for the 2-0 lead.  The Irish would tie the game in the fourth with 2 runs.  In the fifth, Ron Spears would walk followed by a double by Smith to put runners at second and third.  Justin Nelson's ground out scored Spears.  In the sixth, PS would tack on 4 more runs to put the game away.  Danny Campfield singled and Joe Watts doubled to start the inning.  Jason Preising would walk to load the bases.  Jamieson would then single home Campfield.  Watts would score next on a RBI single by Spears.  Moorhead then singled to bring home Jamieson and Jesse Michel rounded out the scoring with another RBI single.  Portage South won the game 7-2.  Alonzo Spears picked up the victory for the Black Squirrels on the mound.  Smith was 3-3 with 2 doubles for the offense.

Black Squirrels Even Their Record with Win Over Akron Rays

After getting rained out over the weekend, Portage South looked to even their record at 2-2 on the young season.  PS struck first with a run in the top of the first inning.  Ron Spears doubled and scored.  The Rays would even the score at 1-1 with a run in the fourth inning.  In the sixth inning, Ty Moorhead doubled and move to third on a single by Jesse Michel.  Danny Campfield would then single home Moorhead and Michel for the lead and PS would hold on to win 3-1.  Eric Schaffer came on in relief to pick up the win on the mound.   

Portage South Opens 2018 Season with a Split with the Tallmadge Knights

In game 1, the Knights took the lead with a run in the first inning.  Portage South tied in the bottom half of the first.  Mike Darrah would walk to lead off the inning and would score on a single by Ty Moorhead.  The game would remain tied until the fifth inning when Tallmadge scored 2 runs to take a 3-1 lead.  This would stand as Jake Knapp held PS bats in check and the Black Squirrels would lose 3-1.  Jesse Michel had 2 hits to lead the offense.  Ron Spears added a double.

The second game of the double header, Portage South grabbed the early lead with a run in the top of the first inning.  Jesse Michel walked to lead off, then moved to second on a single by Ron Spears.  Michel advanced to third on a fielder's choice and scored on a Ty Moorhead sacrifice fly.  The Knights would score 2 runs in the second to take a 2-1 advantage, but PS would plate 2 runs of their own to move back ahead 3-2 in the third.  Phil Smith would walk and steal second base before being batted home by a Moorhead single.  Moorhead ended up on second on an error by the center fielder.  After stealing third, Moorhead scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Haney.  Tallmadge tied the game in the fourth with a run at 3-3, but Portage South would take the lead again in the fifth.  Smith again walked and moved to second on a ground out.  He would then steal third and a throwing error by the catcher allowed him to score the go-ahead run.  The Black Squirrels would add an insurance run in the seventh that proved to be the game winner as they were able to hold on for a 5-4 win.  Moorhead had a single and 2 RBI.   Phil Kaderle threw 4 innings in relief to pick up the victory on the mound.