Ironton parades past Trojans
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, May 3, 2006
The Ironton Fighting Tigers hit parade had quite a march.
Ironton banged out 13 hits in a 10-5 win over the Portsmouth Trojans Monday.
“We hit the ball pretty well up and down the lineup,” Ironton coach Mark Lewis said. “(Chris) Rakes didn’t have his best stuff, but T.J. (Keith) came in and did a nice job. He threw the ball pretty well.”
Rakes went four innings to get the win. Keith got the save as he struck out six — three in the sixth inning with the base loaded and no outs.
Ironton took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a single by Rakes and a double by Dustin Preston.
Portsmouth took a 3-1 lead in the top of the second inning on a three-run homer by Jayson Jones.
But Ironton rallied in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good at 5-3.
Tanner Reed doubled and Seth Kuehne singled for the first run. Kuehne stole second base and scored on a double by Trevor Allen.
Dennis Gagai capped the rally with his first career home run, a two-run blast to left-center.
“I didn’t know if it would go out. It kept going to the right. I hit it pretty good,” Gagai said.
The Trojans (6-11) got a run in the third inning on a hit by J.D. Jones and a double by Brian Estep.
But Chad Miller slammed a solo home run leading off the bottom of the inning and it was 6-4.
Jayson Jones hit his second home run in the fourth to cut the lead to 6-5, but Ironton came right back with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
Allen was hit by a pitch, Jay Rudmann reached on an error and Gagai had an RBI single. Gagai stole second and scored on a hit by Miller. Keith hand an infield hit that scored Miller.
Miller was 3-4 with two RBI, Gagai 2-4 and three RBI, Reed 2-3 and Preston 2-4.
Ironton, 6-5, hosts Raceland, Ky., Tuesday.
Portsmouth0311000=542
Ironton141400x=10130
Brian Estep and Howard Harcha. Chris Rakes, T.J Keith (5) and Dustin Preston. W-Rakes (2-K, 1-BB, 5-ER, 11-H). Save-Keith (6-K, 1-BB, 3-H). L-Estep (5-K, 0-BB, 7-ER, 1-WP, 1-HP). SB-Portsmouth: John Harcha, J.D. Jones, John Walker; Ironton: Seth Kuehne, Dennis Gagai, Tanner Reed. 2B-Portsmouth: John Walker, Brian Estep; Ironton: Dustin Preston, Tanner Reed, Trevor Allen. HR-Portsmouth: Jayson Jones 2; Ironton: Dennis Gagai, Chad Miller. Hitting-Portsmouth: John Harcha 1-3, John Walker 3-3, J.D. Jones 1-4, Brian Estep 2-4, Cody Colley 3-4, Jayson Jones 2-4, Storm Bratchet 1-4; Ironton: Chris Rakes 1-4, Dennis Gagai 2-4 (3 rbi), Dustin Preston 2-4 (rbi), Chad Miller 3-4 (2 rbi), T.J. Keith 1-4 (rbi), Tanner Reed 2-3, Seth Kuehne 1-3 (rbi), Trevor Allen (1-2 (rbi).