13 Run Game Three Earns Portland Series Win

Portland Presbyterian used a 17 hit, 7 home run, 13 run Game Three and won the series against Christ Church two games to one.  Christ Church won Game One to avoid a sweep.  The games were the first played at home for Portland since their fire two years ago!

Portland failed to score in Game One.  Christ Church opened its scoring in the third inning when Mike Peak drove in Mike Thompson from second with a home run. A David Stierle triple and a Frank Preston double added a run in the fourth.  Christ Church finished the scoring in the sixth when Dick Lutz singled and Charlie Smith, Frank Preston and Audrey Grant added consecutive RBI triples.  The final was 6-0.

In game Two, Portland broke out on top with a run in the bottom of the first.  Christ Church tied the score in the third when Mike Thompson homered.  Portland took a 4-1 lead with a two runs in the third and one in the fourth.  Christ Church cut the lead to 4-3 in the fifth.  Audrey Grant tripled and Mike Peak homered.  In the sixth, Dick Lutz's single and David Stierle's triple tied the game.  In the eighth, Charlie Smith and David Stierle homered to give Christ Church a 6-4 lead.  But the lead was very temporary as Portland opened the bottom of the eighth with three straight home runs and won 7-6.

Portland never trailed in Game Three scoring one in the second, three in the fourth and one in the fifth for a 5-0 lead.  Christ Church got on the board with two in the seventh to cut the lead to three.  (Mike Thompson and Dick Lutz singled and David Stierle tripled.)  Portland stretched their lead  to four in the bottom of the inning, and put the game away with four runs  in the seventh.  Christ Church continued to fight and scored two in the eighth.  Mike Peak singled and was driven in on Bob Stone's home run.  Portland closed out the scoring in bottom of the eighth with three more runs for a 13-4 victory.

For the night, Portland out hit (36-32) and out scored (20-16) Christ Church and had more doubles (7-6) and more home runs (11-6).  Christ Church's sole statistical lead was in triples (8-3).