Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

COAL GROVE — Daniel Rutherford is a copy cat only he copies himself.

Rutherford pitched a three-hitter in his last outing. He must have like that performance because he repeated it on Friday when he three-hit the Rock Hill Redmen 6-0 in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Rutherford fired a three-hit shutout as the Coal Grove Hornets blanked the Rock Hill Redmen 6-0 on Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

Rutherford struck out 11 and did not walk a batter in going the distance for the Hornets (5-1, 2-1).

“Rutherford threw the ball really well and we played well defensively. We had two double plays and made some nice plays,” said Hornets’ coach Dean Mader.

“It was a pretty good team effort. We had good pitcher, good defense and a lot of hits.”

Coal Grove had 11 hits as Rutherford went 3-for-3, Jacob Clark 3-4, Jeb Jones 2-3 and Jesse Rigsby 2-4.

Heath Carpenter was 2-for-3 and Austin Barcus 1-3 for Rock Hill (0-5, 0-4).

Coal Grove snapped a scoreless tie with two runs in the third.

Clark singled and stole second. Rutherford singled him to third and then stole second and Rigsby had a two-run single.

The Hornets made it 5-0 in the fifth.

Clark singled, Rutherford and Rigsby walked, and Jacob Pierce hit into a force play as a run scored.

Pierce stole second and Rutherford scored on the throw. Sean Paulus then singled in the third run.

The final run scored in the sixth when Clark singled, stole second and third and scored on a hit by Rutherford.

Rock Hill 000 000 0 = 0 3 1

Coal Grove 002 031 x = 6 11 2

Brandon Schob, Sean McFann (6) and Cody Lewis. Daniel Rutherford and Jesse Rigsby. W-Rutherford (K-11,BB-0). L-Schob (K-3, BB-1, H-10). McFann IP-1, BB-1, H-2. Hitting—RH: Heath Carpenter 2-3, Austin Barcus 1-3; CG: Jacob Clark 3-4, Daniel Rutherford 3-3, Jesse Rigsby 2-4, Sean Paulus 1-3, Jeb Jones 2-3.