TROY — Anna won 15 games each of the last two years but lost in first-round tournament games. The Rockets have strengthened their schedule in hopes it will help lead to more postseason success.

Anna lost 15-5 in six innings in its latest tough nonconference matchup on Tuesday at Troy’s Market Street Field. The Trojans, which are in fourth place in the Miami Valley League Miami Division, improved to 7-3 overall with the victory.

The Rockets (3-7) have lost once to each Fort Loramie and Russia in Shelby County Athletic League play. They’ve also faced and lost to Minster and Covington in nonconference play.

“We talked with Keaton (Metz), our new athletic director, last year in the offseason, and that was one of the goals; we wanted to challenge the girls a little more than what we’d seen last year,” Anna coach Brandon Cobb said. Cobb was an assistant before taking over as head coach this year.

“We had a really good team last year, but we felt like as coaches, we’d kind of let them down come tournament time, that we hadn’t prepared them enough against good competition. So we wanted to kind of flip that this year, and it’s happened. We’ve got a really tough schedule.

“It’s trial and error with us right now. We’ve got a very young team. …When we play well, we can challenge most teams. We’re still trying to build that confidence, build that game IQ. We’ve got some talent, we just need some experience now.”

Cobb said he’s seen a lot of growth from the team so far.

“We spend a lot of time talking approach at the plate, and understanding your assignment defensively, where you’re supposed to be,” Cobb said. “… We’ve got some talent and we can hit. It’s just a matter of the girls playing with some more confidence.”

The Rockets, which won the SCAL title last year, lost four players to graduation who were first or second team all-league selections. They have one key starter back in Brenna Cobb, who was a first team all-league selection and a second team all-Ohio Division III selection last year.

Cobb, who plays at shortstop, hit a two-run home run in the first inning on Tuesday and was 2 for 3 with two doubles in a 5-2 win over Botkins on Monday. Marlie McLain hit a three-run home run (which hit the center-field fence and bounced behind it) in the third inning to give the Rockets a 5-1 lead.

“Brenna is one of our senior leaders, she and Taylor Dye,” Cobb, who is Brenna’s father, said. “They carry a lot of responsibility for the team. When you have Liz (Staudter) and Izzy (Jenkins), our two juniors, jumping in there and giving what they give, we have great leadership.

“We just need some depth now, and we’re (developing it). Marlie is starting to come along. She had three hits last night and the big hit tonight. Now we just need it to be more consistent from all of them.

“I think our upperclassmen are feeling a little pressure and feeling they have to do too much. Just settle in, play the game, and the young ones will come along. There’s going to be highs and lows with them, and we know that. We just need to capture the highs a little bit in bigger moments.”

After taking the early lead, Troy cut the gap to 5-2 in the bottom of the third and exploded for 10 runs in the fourth. The Trojans had five hits in the inning and drew five walks; a pair of early errors helped Troy get going.

Anna pulled starter Brooklyn Cruse in the inning and put in Staudter in relief, but she got one out against the six batters she faced before Cruse was reinserted to finish the inning. Dye and Eva Pleiman pitched the last 1 2/3 innings; Troy scored three in the sixth to earn a run-rule win.

Dye and Cruse are the squad’s top pitchers. Dye started against Botkins on Monday and gave up two earned runs on five hits and four walks while striking out eight.

“Taylor threw last night in the league game, so Brooklyn got the start tonight,” Cobb said. “I think Scott (Beeler), Troy’s coach, would tell you he was a little nervous there. We got up early in the game, and she was pitching well, but then unfortunately, she kind of lost the strike zone. It just kind of snowballed on us from there.”

Cruse was charged the loss; she gave up three earned runs on three hits and 11 walks. She struck out five batters.

Troy drew 19 walks and had six hits; Anna had six hits and drew four walks. Amayah Kennedy was 2 for 3 for Troy with two walks; she hit one triple.

The Rockets are scheduled to host Fort Loramie (7-3) for an SCAL game on Thursday; Anna lost 5-1 to the Redskins in a season opener. They’re scheduled to host Allen East on Friday.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4818, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.