PORT NECHES — Noah Gregory threw seven strikeouts through four innings, a sign that this was Nederland’s night.

Nederland’s offense backed up Gregory with five runs through the first two innings and stopped a potential Port Neches-Groves seventh-inning rally to take a 5-2 victory on Tuesday.

The quick start was very important, according to Gregory.

“We came out and just did our best, and you know what, our guys hit really well, and our defenders, we played real good defense. That’s just how we did it.”

https://www.facebook.com/portarthurnewssports/videos/430923997714253/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Chandler had a second hit in the sixth inning, Rene Cunningham lined a single in the fifth and Mascorro singled in the fourth.

Neither Gregory nor Jacob Mares was tagged with a hit until the seventh inning — at least on the scoreboard — leading to belief a combined no-hitter was in the process. PNG’s Reid Porter led off that inning with a single and, after a Dean Guidry hit, Conner Kemp came on for the save. Kemp walked Blake Bost to load the bases but got Khristian Curtis to bat into a 6-4-3 double play.

“They’re a dangerous team,” Nederland coach Bryan Spell said of PNG. “In this ballpark, no lead is safe.”

Mares threw a strikeout in 2 1/3 innings in relief for Gregory, who unofficially threw 86 pitches.

“As the year’s gone on, we kind of know his pitch count, and he was in that area,” Spell said. “… He threw really well for us. That was our thoughts behind [relieving] him. He kind of got to that pitch count area he hadn’t been in a whole lot.”

Neither Spell nor Gregory was unaware the pitcher didn’t have a hit charged against him on the scoreboard.

“I was just trying to pitch my game,” he said. “Somebody told me and I was like, dang, I didn’t really know that. But I was just trying to keep within myself and pitch my game.”

Guidry was actually credited with a 3-for-4 batting performance, collecting hits in the first and third innings. The first-inning hit took a high hop over Gregory and bounced off second base past shortstop Curtis.

“But we had two hits, and that’s still not hitting the baseball,” PNG coach Scott Carter said. “That’s the story. We didn’t hit the baseball, and we made some errors. We didn’t play baseball the way we normally play. We had been playing a lot of error-free baseball, and we’ve been hitting the baseball a little bit, and tonight, we just didn’t do that. We hit a few balls hard early, and they made great plays on them, and we just didn’t continue to hit the ball hard.”

Guidry and Porter each scored a run on passed balls in the third, narrowing a 5-0 deficit.

The Bulldogs (7-7-2, 3-0 in 21-5A) stranded eight Indian runners and overcame two errors to win. PNG (7-10-1, 0-1) committed three errors.

The Bulldogs undoubtedly brought the offense early, scoring a run on two first-inning hits and plating four more on three second-inning hits.

Adam Roccaforte singled in the first and scored on a bases-loaded walk by Wade Butler. Roccaforte also pushed Landon Hiltz across on a fielder’s choice in the second after Hiltz sent Corbin Chandler home on a double, and Brock Holton batted in Omar Mascorro and Roccaforte with a double.

Grant Rogers struck out two but allowed eight hits in the complete-game loss.

•

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews