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PEDRO — To say that the Portsmouth Trojans' baseball program got out to a good start in its OHSAA Division V District Quarterfinal over Albany Alexander would be underselling the point.
In fact, the start was picture-perfect — and couldn't have been more fitting.
Portsmouth senior and multi-time All-Ohioan Jacob Roth crushed a solo home run two pitches into the bottom half of the opening inning to put the Trojans in front immediately, and fellow multi-year starter Trevin Brooks, who struck out the side in the top half of the first frame, proceeded to throw a gem in fanning 11 batters through the first four innings of play en route to a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts in the Trojans' 10-0 run-rule victory over the Spartans in six innings on Friday afternoon in a contest that was held at Rock Hill High School in Pedro.
For Portsmouth's star senior duo, the contest represents the beginning of a time where the Trojans can't take anything for granted, which was certainly evident in how both players attacked matters on Friday.
"We've been here before," Brooks said. "You've got to show up and you've got to play ball. You never know when it's going to be your last game, so we took pride in that. You have to play good to keep extending your season."
Now 20-7 in 2026, Portsmouth has won 11 out of its last 12 contests, 14 out of its last 16 affairs and 17 out of its last 20 games.
Over its last 20 contests, Portsmouth's scored at least seven or more runs in 12 of those games.
That offensive hot spell continued from the get-go, when Jacob Roth, after taking a first-pitch ball, launched the second pitch from Alexander's Riley Abfall over the left field fence.
From that point forward, the Spartans were never the same after that bomb.
"I've had a lot that were pretty close to going out, but that's the first one that went out," Roth said. "I've hit a couple in practice, too, but it felt really nice getting things started like that."
Two-hole hitter Landon Malone then added a second run after drawing a walk, stealing second base, advancing to third on a fly out by Brooks, and scoring on a wild pitch, giving Portsmouth a 2-0 lead after an inning of work.
The Trojans then tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the second inning, as after a pair of walks by Owen Wells and Caine Boggs and a hit batter, Malone came back up to the plate and dropped in a hit to shallow right field to score both Wells and Boggs, giving the Trojans a 4-0 cushion with which to work with.
From there, it was all Brooks.
The senior arm simply dazzled throughout his 79-pitch outing as Alexander failed to even put together a sliver of an opening. In fact, outside of a two-out walk in the second inning, Brooks struck out every additional batter that he faced through four innings of work.
The Spartans only put two balls in play throughout the entirety of the game, with its only additional baserunner coming on a one-out error as Brooks struck out 15 of the 20 batters that he saw on Friday en route to his no-hitter.
"It feels good," Brooks said. "It makes it a lot easier when you've got a catcher that can catch you and a defense that plays defense. I can't do it without those guys."
Between Brooks' dominant effort on the mound and Roth's tone-setting homer to begin Portsmouth's offensive roll, it was simply Trevin Brooks and Jacob Roth doing Trevin Brooks and Jacob Roth things, in Aaron Duncan's eyes.
"The two seniors that have done this for us for a long time set the tone from the beginning," Duncan said. "Trevin was a bulldog on the mound with the ball in his hands, then Jacob did Jacob things at the plate. You could see the doubt creep in on the Alexander pitcher (Riley Abfall) after that happened."
Portsmouth, who got a one-out RBI single from Braxton Carr in the third inning that scored Eli Roth following Roth's single and steal of second earlier in the frame, along with a two-out RBI double by Camron Williams that scored Caine Boggs after Boggs led off the fourth with a single back up the middle, regrouped after not scoring in the fifth.
As with the fourth frame, Boggs — who, in going 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored, joined Williams (2-for-4, double, three RBI, run scored) in the multi-hit column on the day — headed up Portsmouth's production by reaching on a one-out single, and after a hit batter and a wild pitch, Williams drove both Boggs and Malone in with a two-RBI single to push the Trojans' lead to an 8-0 margin.
"Caine is somebody who has really come on as a starter for us, and has gotten better and better," Duncan said. "He's made the most of his opportunities and is a hard out. When he gets two strikes against him, he's battling, puts it in play, and can run."
Brooks then fittingly capped the game off by not only scoring Williams with a single that Brooks advanced to third on through a fielding error, but fittingly scored the 10th and final run of the game as the senior slid in safely on a wild pitch, officially giving Brooks the no-hitter to boot.
"We've got to keep these bats going," Roth said. "I know we scored 10 runs, but we didn't hit as good as we possibly could've (on Friday). We're just looking to keep the momentum going. We're going to do some scouting on Lynchburg-Clay and make sure that we're prepared. I feel pretty good about where we're at."
"The next few innings, our guys were trying to replicate what Jacob did," Duncan said. "We kind of had to reset and tell the guys, 'Hey, that's not our game. Put it in play, let's run, and let's create pressure.' We were able to do that."
With the victory, Portsmouth (20-7) advanced to a OHSAA Division V District Semifinal date against Lynchburg-Clay (20-6) Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe.
"Up and down the lineup, we've got some kids that can run, and if we get the ball put in play, that creates problems for teams," Duncan said. "Throughout the lineup, we were able to get that done enough today to get the 10-run rule, and now we have the weekend to get ready to get back on our feet for Lynchburg-Clay next week. I'm thankful for Jerry Kidd and Rock Hill for letting us use their facility to get our district quarterfinal game against Albany Alexander in."
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In fact, the start was picture-perfect — and couldn't have been more fitting.
Portsmouth senior and multi-time All-Ohioan Jacob Roth crushed a solo home run two pitches into the bottom half of the opening inning to put the Trojans in front immediately, and fellow multi-year starter Trevin Brooks, who struck out the side in the top half of the first frame, proceeded to throw a gem in fanning 11 batters through the first four innings of play en route to a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts in the Trojans' 10-0 run-rule victory over the Spartans in six innings on Friday afternoon in a contest that was held at Rock Hill High School in Pedro.
For Portsmouth's star senior duo, the contest represents the beginning of a time where the Trojans can't take anything for granted, which was certainly evident in how both players attacked matters on Friday.
"We've been here before," Brooks said. "You've got to show up and you've got to play ball. You never know when it's going to be your last game, so we took pride in that. You have to play good to keep extending your season."
Now 20-7 in 2026, Portsmouth has won 11 out of its last 12 contests, 14 out of its last 16 affairs and 17 out of its last 20 games.
Over its last 20 contests, Portsmouth's scored at least seven or more runs in 12 of those games.
That offensive hot spell continued from the get-go, when Jacob Roth, after taking a first-pitch ball, launched the second pitch from Alexander's Riley Abfall over the left field fence.
From that point forward, the Spartans were never the same after that bomb.
"I've had a lot that were pretty close to going out, but that's the first one that went out," Roth said. "I've hit a couple in practice, too, but it felt really nice getting things started like that."
Two-hole hitter Landon Malone then added a second run after drawing a walk, stealing second base, advancing to third on a fly out by Brooks, and scoring on a wild pitch, giving Portsmouth a 2-0 lead after an inning of work.
The Trojans then tacked on two more runs in the bottom half of the second inning, as after a pair of walks by Owen Wells and Caine Boggs and a hit batter, Malone came back up to the plate and dropped in a hit to shallow right field to score both Wells and Boggs, giving the Trojans a 4-0 cushion with which to work with.
From there, it was all Brooks.
The senior arm simply dazzled throughout his 79-pitch outing as Alexander failed to even put together a sliver of an opening. In fact, outside of a two-out walk in the second inning, Brooks struck out every additional batter that he faced through four innings of work.
The Spartans only put two balls in play throughout the entirety of the game, with its only additional baserunner coming on a one-out error as Brooks struck out 15 of the 20 batters that he saw on Friday en route to his no-hitter.
"It feels good," Brooks said. "It makes it a lot easier when you've got a catcher that can catch you and a defense that plays defense. I can't do it without those guys."
Between Brooks' dominant effort on the mound and Roth's tone-setting homer to begin Portsmouth's offensive roll, it was simply Trevin Brooks and Jacob Roth doing Trevin Brooks and Jacob Roth things, in Aaron Duncan's eyes.
"The two seniors that have done this for us for a long time set the tone from the beginning," Duncan said. "Trevin was a bulldog on the mound with the ball in his hands, then Jacob did Jacob things at the plate. You could see the doubt creep in on the Alexander pitcher (Riley Abfall) after that happened."
Portsmouth, who got a one-out RBI single from Braxton Carr in the third inning that scored Eli Roth following Roth's single and steal of second earlier in the frame, along with a two-out RBI double by Camron Williams that scored Caine Boggs after Boggs led off the fourth with a single back up the middle, regrouped after not scoring in the fifth.
As with the fourth frame, Boggs — who, in going 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored, joined Williams (2-for-4, double, three RBI, run scored) in the multi-hit column on the day — headed up Portsmouth's production by reaching on a one-out single, and after a hit batter and a wild pitch, Williams drove both Boggs and Malone in with a two-RBI single to push the Trojans' lead to an 8-0 margin.
"Caine is somebody who has really come on as a starter for us, and has gotten better and better," Duncan said. "He's made the most of his opportunities and is a hard out. When he gets two strikes against him, he's battling, puts it in play, and can run."
Brooks then fittingly capped the game off by not only scoring Williams with a single that Brooks advanced to third on through a fielding error, but fittingly scored the 10th and final run of the game as the senior slid in safely on a wild pitch, officially giving Brooks the no-hitter to boot.
"We've got to keep these bats going," Roth said. "I know we scored 10 runs, but we didn't hit as good as we possibly could've (on Friday). We're just looking to keep the momentum going. We're going to do some scouting on Lynchburg-Clay and make sure that we're prepared. I feel pretty good about where we're at."
"The next few innings, our guys were trying to replicate what Jacob did," Duncan said. "We kind of had to reset and tell the guys, 'Hey, that's not our game. Put it in play, let's run, and let's create pressure.' We were able to do that."
With the victory, Portsmouth (20-7) advanced to a OHSAA Division V District Semifinal date against Lynchburg-Clay (20-6) Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at VA Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe.
"Up and down the lineup, we've got some kids that can run, and if we get the ball put in play, that creates problems for teams," Duncan said. "Throughout the lineup, we were able to get that done enough today to get the 10-run rule, and now we have the weekend to get ready to get back on our feet for Lynchburg-Clay next week. I'm thankful for Jerry Kidd and Rock Hill for letting us use their facility to get our district quarterfinal game against Albany Alexander in."
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