ANNA — Anna faced several strong opponents to start the season and struggled early, but the experience appears to have been beneficial.

The Rockets have won five of their last six games and are tied with Fort Loramie for second place in Shelby Count Athletic League standings. They improved to 10-8 overall and 7-2 in SCAL play with a 3-1 victory over Houston on Monday.

“Defensively, we’re really coming along,” Anna coach Tony Metzler said. “Our pitching’s coming along; we’ve got guys throwing two pitches for strikes. It keeps us in games.”

Anna lost 3-2 to Fort Loramie in a league game to open the season and 6-1 to the Redskins five days later in a nonconference game. The squad also lost to strong opponents in Russia, West Liberty-Salem and Minster in the first few weeks and beat St. Henry.

The Rockets beat Fort Loramie 4-3 on April 18 and have won six of their last eight since.

“Really tough schedule, especially with Loramie twice, and in those games, we just couldn’t get over the hump to get a win,” Metzler said. “Playing Loramie a third time and getting that win was huge.”

Metzler, who was an assistant prior to taking over the program last summer, is optimistic about the team’s ability to make a postseason run since it is battle-tested.

The battles will continue. Anna is scheduled to host SCAL leader Russia (13-4) on Thursday and has a big nonconference game scheduled for Monday at Springfield Kenton Ridge (14-4).

“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Metzler said. “It’s a huge game against Russia on Thursday. If we win that, we might need some help, but we’ve got a chance for league. And then just keep it rolling for tournament time.”

Anna junior pitcher Aiden Keller pitched a complete game; he gave up one earned run on three hits and two walks and struck out 16 batters.

“He was dominant tonight,” Metzler said. “He was able to throw his fastball and curve ball any time for a strike. It was a huge outing for him.”

Anna leadoff hitter Zach Osborn, who plays at shortstop, was 2 for 3 with a triple; he scored two runs. Keller was 1 for 2 with one walk; he was 3 for 5 with 4 RBIs in a 17-7 win over Lehman Catholic on Saturday.

Anna had seven hits on Monday. Metzler said hitting was a problem early on, but the squad is improving.

“I’d like to see us scratch a few more runs across,” Metzler said. “We’ve had days where we’ve had four or five hits and have had days where we’ve had 10. We just need that consistent approach at the plate where we’re getting 10 hits, or we’re having productive at bats and moving runners.”

Metzler said Osborn is playing well both at the plate and in the field and said left fielder Noah Aufderhaar has been hitting well recently. He also credited second baseman Carson Pleiman for playing well recently.

Pleiman was 1 for 3 on Monday and was 1 for 3 with a walk on Saturday.

“He doesn’t have the best average, but he does a lot of little things right for us,” Metzler said of Pleiman. “… Quality at-bats, and he is the highest on the team in walks. His batting average might not be up there, but his on-base percentage is.”

Houston scored its run in the top of the first when Jeff Leist hit an RBI double to left field.

Anna tied it right away in the bottom half of the inning. Osborn led Anna off with a single on a hard ground ball to left, then stole second and third. He scored on a single by Keller to center.

The Rockets took the lead in the third. Osborn hit a triple to center field and walked three batters later when Ethan Egbert reached on an error. Troy Wolters batted in a run on a sacrifice bunt to push the lead to 3-1.

Houston (4-12, 1-5 SCAL) only had three base runners the rest of the game.

AJ Edwards pitched a complete game for the Wildcats. He gave up one earned run on seven hits and one walk with one strikeout.

Reach Bryant Billing at 937-538-4822, or follow @SidneyOHSports on Twitter and @BryantBillingSDN on Facebook.