If you take away two of Chillicothe‘s innings, the Lorain County Ironmen win the game 3-0 Sunday night.

But baseball doesn’t work that way as the Ironmen couldn’t overcome two BIG innings where Chillicothe batted around twice and scored 13 runs, en route to a 13-3 win over the Ironmen in front of a crowd of 205 at The Pipe Yard.

The Ironmen fall to 1-3 in the second half, while the Paints improved to 3-0 and remain in first place of the Eastern Division of the Prospect League.

"It’s a culmination of things," Ironmen manager Eric Cormell said. "We just got off of a long road trip. We lost a few pitchers (due to injuries). We got pnemonia going around, it has two guys down ... Right now, our bullpen is taxed. We had to throw a positon player (Ingraham) just to get us through the game. Against a team like that (Chillicothe), you can’t give them walks and runs like that. Hopefully tomorrow, we’ll figure out a way to beat these guys."

The highlight of the game was Austin Ingraham’s two-run triple in the bottom of the third inning that scored Justin Mackert and Nate Antone, who both drew walks.

With two outs, Ingraham hit a blast to right field, which he hustled to third and slid in just in time for the three bagger. The clutch hit cut a 5-1 deficit to 5-3, but that was the closest the Ironmen got. The Paints painted eight runs on the board the very next inning. "So far every time we play Chillicothe, we‘ve held them in check the first couple innings then they explode," Ingraham said. "They did that again tonight. We‘re going to see these guys a lot in the second half so we have to figure out how to minimize that."

Ingraham also had a chance to pitch and didn’t disappoint. He pitched three innings of scoreless relief, scattering four hits and a walk.

"It was the first time I pitched since high school," said Ingraham, who pitched at Willoughby South. "I actually threw over the top in high school, but before the game I was joking around and dropped down and threw side arm. Coach needed somebody to throw some innings and I said I’ll do it. I just put the ball over the plate and they probably weren’t expecting stuff that slow, but I got some long fly outs and got through three innings ... I absolutely would pitch again. It felt good to be up there again."

Chillicothe’s Greg Van Horn went yard, hitting a two-run home run over the left field fence after Zach Stewart hit his second two-run single of the game as the Paints cracked the game open, putting put up eight runs in the fourth inning after scoring five runs in the third.

The Ironmen hit the scoreboard first as Stephen Hagen and Nate Antone hit back-to-back doubles with two outs to take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. After Hagen’s first-pitch double, Antone followed with an identical first-pitch RBI double to score Hagen.

The Paints came to life in the third inning, putting up three runs on three hits, before recording their first out of the inning. The Paints added another two more runs before the Ironmen made it out of the inning. Zach Stewart provided a two-run single, Greg Van Horn added an RBI single, Trace Voshell hit a fielder’s choice that scored a run and David Turnbull hit a sacrifice fly.

Starting pitcher Kris Hall lost his first decision of the season, falling to 2-1 after allowing five third-inning runs. Patrick Mulligan allowed the eight runs in the fourth, while Ingraham, Billy Urban and Phil Brua held the Paints scoreless.

The Ironmen will try to snap their three-game losing streak when they host Chillicothe at 7 p.m. Monday night at The Pipe Yard.