LORAIN — It was the tale of two games on Monday afternoon at the Pipe Yard. The Lorain County Ironmen could do little wrong in the opener as they cranked out 17 hits to destroy the Chillicothe Paints, 17-3 in Prospect League play. The second game was a different story. Both teams cranked out nine hits but the Paints won 10-1 as the Ironmen left 12 men on base.

The 17 runs in the first game tied the team record, which was set last Tuesday in the Ironmen’s 17-2 beatdown of the West Virginia Miners.

Lorain County had six players who had two or more hits led by designated hitter Nate Antone. Antone went 3-for-5 and drove in four runs, while second basemen James DiBiasio went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs and two runs scored in the No. 9 spot.

DiBiasio, a Westlake native, who came into the game hitting .250, credited his day to extra work with hitting coach Joe Charboneau.

“I was working earlier in the day with Joe and we talked about staying inside the ball,” DiBiasio said. “The last couple games I was flying my front shoulder out, so I tried to keep everything on the back side and everything worked out.”

The Ironmen were aided early on by a couple of errors by Chillicothe shortstop Justin Trent. His error in the first inning allowed Zak Blair to score and gave the Ironmen a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Trent dropped a fly ball by Antone that allowed Nolan Neuschaefer to score and make 5-0. On the previous play Neuschaefer and Sam Alvis advance to second and third on a passed ball. The Ironmen sent nine men to the plate in the inning and lead 6-0.

After tacking on three more runs in the third, the Ironmen blew the game wide open in the fourth.

They sent 14 batter to the plate and scored eight runs on eight hits. DiBiasio had two hits, 2 RBIs and scored a run in the fourth.

DiBiasio said it was important the team took advantage of the Paints’ miscues.

“It always helps because Chillicothe is a good team,” DiBiasio said. “It really helps when one guy starts hitting because it becomes contagious. The top of the lineup was getting on base and we were able to capitalize on their errors.”

For the second time in as many starts Ironmen pitcher Adam Beach benefitted from the team’s offensive explosion. He got the win against the Miners and pitched five solid innings on Monday.

Beach got into some trouble in the second and fourth innings, but was able to minimize the damage. He had runners at first and third, with no outs, in the second but struck out the side to get out of the jam.

In the fourth, the Paints scored three runs off him, but the Ironmen were ahead 9-0 before the inning started.

Beach said he didn’t feel great on the mound, but the early runs helped a lot.

“You turn into a ground ball pitcher, instead of a strikeout pitcher when you get into a situation like that,” said Beach, who had seven strikeouts. “You just try not to give up as many runs. I left a couple of balls up and they took advantage of it, but I just kept making them put the ball in play.”

Ironmen manager Joe Rhomberg said he was happy the way his team kept hitting the whole game.

“A couple of nights ago we were up 4-0 and we sat on that lead,” Rhomberg said. “Today it seemed we had more energy throughout the whole game. You never know how these guys are going to react to these 11 a.m. games. I was definitely pleased the way we came out.”

Romberg joked saying he wished he could pitched Beach more if his offensive continues to respond when he’s on the mound.

“He throws strike and keeps everyone in the game,” said Rhomberg about Beach. “He’s real easy to play behind and I know the players enjoy being on the field when he’s on the mound.”

In the second game, Chillicothe (4-7) scored five in the third, two in the fourth and three more in the sixth to jump out to a 10-0 lead. Lorain (5-6) scored their only run in the sixth with Connor Weir driving in Jeff Cola. Casey Weber (2-0) picked up the win with five scoreless innings of work. Michael Clarke (0-3) took the loss.

Courtesy of Anthony Rios