JACKSON — Ernie Banks was always known for his famous line, “Let’s play two.”

Not only did the Ironton Fighting Tigers play two Saturday, they won them both.

Ironton beat the Jackson Ironmen 4-3 and 12-2 in five innings as they picked up a pair of Southeastern Ohio Athletic League wins.

“It’s always good to win a doubleheader. I think in the last three years all we’ve been able to do is split. This was even better because they were league games,” said Ironton coach Tobey Schreck.

Jonathan Williams pitched a 4-hitter in the first game as Ironton won 4-3. Williams struck out nine, walked three and none of the runs were earned.

Ironton took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a home run by Josh Pancake.

Jackson scored twice in the first inning on a walk, a single, a hit batsman and an error.

Ironton tied the game in the fourth inning on a double by Keith Wetzel and an RBI single by Howie Lucas.

The Fighting Tigers took the lead in the top of the fifth on singles by Darren Dalton and Pancake and a ground out by Williams.

Jackson tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a two-out triple by Landrum and an error.

But the Fighting Tigers pushed across the winning run in the sixth inning.

Taylor Barker singled, moved to second base when Cameron Miller grounded out and scored on a hit by Anthony Harper.

Williams shut down the Jackson bats as he struck out five of the final six batters.

“We made some fielding mistakes, but Williams pitched a nice game and we got some clutch hits. (Jackson) probably shouldn’t have scored,” said Schreck.

The Fighting Tigers rolled 12-2 in the second game behind the 5-hit pitching of freshman Steve Easterling who was making his starting debut.

Easterling struck out three and did not walk a batter.

“We were a little short on available pitching, so we gave him a chance and he did a nice job,” said Schreck.

A walk to Pancake and a triple by Dalton put Ironton up 1-0 in the first inning.

The lead went to 4-0 in the top of the third inning on a double by Cameron Miller, three walks and a 2-run single by Williams.

Jackson got a run in the bottom of the inning, but Ironton blew the game open with six runs in the fourth inning on three more walks, a double by Pancake and singles by Preston, Barker and Lucas.

The lead went to 12-1 in the top of the fifth when Pancake reached on an error and Dalton and Williams singled.

Ironton hosts Symmes Valley at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Saturday’s Games

First Game

Ironton 100 111 0 = 4 12 3

Jackson 200 010 0 = 3 4 0

Jonathan Williams and Keith Wetzel. Brian Jarvis, Kruize Wandling (6) and Nathanial Haller. W-Williams (9-K, 3-BB, 0-ER). L-Jarvis. 2B-Ironton: Keith Wetzel. 3B-Jackson: Eric Landrum. HR-Ironton: Josh Pancake. Hitting-Ironton: Ethan Preston 2-3, Darren Dalton 2-3, Josh Pancake 2-4, Jonathan Williams 1-4, Keith Wetzel 1-4, Howie Lucas 1-4, “Tractor” Taylor Barker 1-4, Anthony Harper 2-3; Jackson: Austin Wyatt 1-3, Eric Landrum 1-3, Tyler Anders 1-3, Andrew Cunningham 1-3.

Second Game

Ironton 103 62 = 12 11 0

Jackson 001 01 = 2 5 1

Steve Easterling and Keith Wetzel. Phillips, Andrew Cunningham (1), Jarvis (4) and Cunningham. W-Easterling (3-K, 0-BB, 1-HBP). L-Phillips. 2B-Ironton: Josh Pancake, Cameron Miller; Jackson: Cunningham, Abrams. 3B-Ironton: Darren Dalton. Hitting-Ironton: Josh Pancake 1-2, Darren Dalton 2-3, Ethan Preston 1-3, Jonathan Williams 2-3, Anthony Harper 1-3, “Tractor” Taylor Barker 1-4, Howie Lucas 2-3, Cameron Miller 1-3; Jackson: Wyatt 1-2, Landrum 1-2, Anders 1-2, Cunningham 1-2, Abrams 1-2.