With timely hitting and strong pitching, the Lorain County Ironmen ended their four-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory over the Hannibal Cavemen on Wednesday.

With the score tied at four in the eighth, Will Hodges and Evan Melendez drew walks and Matt McAllester got his second bunt single of the game to load the bases with no outs.

Stephen Hagen brought the go-ahead run home with a sacrifice fly to left. Tony Brunetti drove home his third run of the game on a fielder’s choice.

“I just wanted to get a good pitch to hit to the outfield and not hit into a double play,” said Hagen, who had three hits, including an RBI double.

A two-run lead was more than enough for closer Phil Brua, who retired the side in order for his sixth save of the year.

“It’s always easier when you’re up two runs instead of one,” he said.
“I changed my grip on my slider, and it was really working for me tonight.”

Brua is one save off the Prospect League lead and also owns the second lowest ERA (1.13) in the league.

“He comes from a small school over in Oberlin, but he could play for any team in the country,” manager Eric Cormell said. “He deserves a look at the next level.”

Relief pitcher Billy Urban got out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh by getting Gardner Richey to ground out to third, forcing the runner out a home. Matt Burton flied out to deep center field to end the inning.

Urban (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings to pick up the win.

The ball was coming off the Ironmen (16-19 overall, 2-4 in the second half) bats sharply for most of the game. The top of the order did the most damage, as four singles brought home two runs in the first inning.

Melendez singled up the middle on the first pitch he saw. McAllester followed with a bunt single down the first base line and Hagen singled to left to load the bases with none out.

Nate Antone then brought Melendez home with a sacrifice fly to right.
Brunetti singled up the middle to score McAllester and give the Ironmen an early 2-1 lead.

“Offensively, we’ve hit the ball pretty well all year,” Cormell said.
“When you have good pitching and play solid defense, you’re going to win games. We had a few hiccups, but they didn’t hurt us.”

Ironmen starter Aaron Hilt went five innings and allowed four runs on six hits. The right-hander walked two and struck out three.

If not for a couple fielding mistakes, he would have stood to earn his first victory of the season.

The Cavemen (17-18, 3-3) scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning. Hodges, playing center field, misread a fly ball and let it drop with two outs, allowing Brooks Fiala to score from first.

In the third inning, another run for Hannibal crossed the plate from a fielding mistake. With the bases loaded and two outs, Hilt through an outside pitch that tipped off catcher Matt Wantz’s glove, letting L.J. Watson score from third.

Leadoff batter Jerry Hildreth led off the fifth inning with a double down the left field line, just past a diving Nick Hamilton at third. After stealing third, he scored on a wild pitch.

Later in the inning, Ryan Porter sent his fourth home run of the year about 390 feet over the right field wall to give his team a 4-2 lead.

Next on the schedule for the Ironmen is a home game against the Slippery Rock Sliders at 7:05 p.m.

Solid pitching and defense abounded when the Lorain County Ironmen took on the Springfield Sliders last night. The Ironmen have four walk-off wins this season but couldn’t pull it off again, as the Sliders outlasted them 3-1 in 14 innings.

Springfield scored two runs in the top of the 14th when Trevor Willis hit a two-run single.

Extra innings could have been avoided, as the Ironmen had a runner on third with no outs in the ninth but could not score.

Nate Antone led off the inning with a four-pitch walk and advanced to third on a two wild pitches reliever Kendall Meyer. Mike Grieco next walked to put runners on the corners.

But the opportunity would go to waste when Will Hodges, Matt McAllester and Tony Brunetti grounded out to keep Antone at third.

Lorain County (8-14) left a runner on third again in the 13th, but Hodges popped out to short.

Ironmen starter Kris Hall pitched five innings with four walks and six strikeouts. He repeatedly got out of trouble, allowing 10 baserunners without one crossing the plate.

Hall gave up two extra base hits in the first inning but did not yield a run. Nick Judkins led off the game with a double to right-center field and was doubled off after a line drive to shortstop Nick Hamilton.

Willis followed with a triple down the right field line but was left stranded at third.

Hall loaded the bases with one out in the second inning but struck out Matt Giovinazzo and got Judkins to tap out to the catcher.

The bases were left loaded again in the fourth when Judkins struck out.

Brunetti led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to right and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Evan Melendez.

Springfield (9-11) starter Jason Farrell got Stephen Hagen to fly out to shallow right. Farrell then came in to strike out Hamilton to end the inning.

Hamilton scored the first run of the game for the Ironmen in the fourth inning. He reached on an infield single, advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Grieco.

Relievers Phil Brua, Brandon Cantrill, Brian Taricska and Jeff Kottar combined for six scoreless innings before the decisive 14th.

The Ironmen had already played in games lasting 13 and 15 innings so far this season, losing the first and winning the latter.

The Sliders scored off reliever Billy Urban in the eighth inning on a RBI double by Cody Coffman to make the score 1-1.

Farrell pitched into the eighth inning. The southpaw allowed one unearned run, six hits, two walks and stuck out one.

Notes

• The Ironmen added three new players to the roster: outfielder Justin Mackert (Westlake) of The Citadel and pitchers Brian Taricska (Bay Village) of Kent State and Jeff Kottar of Walsh University. Admiral King graduate Matt Toth has been released.

• Third baseman James DiBiasio has been placed on the disabled list.

• The Sliders and Ironmen are in fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the Eastern Division, trailing the Chillicothe Paints (16-5).

• Lorain County is off today and will take on Slippery Rock at The Pipe Yard tomorrow at 7:05 p.m.

On a four-game losing streak, the Ironmen would take a win any way it came.
And with the bases loaded in a tie game in the bottom of the ninth, a walk from J.T. Feldkamp gave the Ironmen a 2-1 victory over the West Virginia Miners.
“I just wanted to put something in the air and not ground into a double play,” Feldkamp said. “I didn’t feel any pressure to put it in play, though. I was willing to take the walk.”
The first run came in an equally unexpected way.
Evan Melendez, after walking with two outs, got to third base on a wide pickoff throw by Miners’ starter Chris Marlowe.
He scored moments later on a wild pitch to even the score at one.
“It kind of works the heart a little but, but we’ll take the win any way it comes,” manager Eric Cormell said. “It was a little anticlimactic at the end with a walk instead of a hit, but in the end it doesn’t matter.”
Mistakes on the base paths kept potential runs off the scoreboard early on for the Ironmen.
Melendez singled to lead off the first, he reached third with no outs on another errant pickoff throw.
The Ironmen couldn’t drive Melendez in, as he was thrown out trying to advance home on a grounder to third by Tony Brunetti.
Austin Ingraham was also thrown out at home after Mike Grieco hit a ball back to the mound.
“We were definitely being aggressive early in the game,” Cormell said. “We were struggling getting some hits, so we were just trying to make something happen.”
A third base running mistake resulted in an out when Danny Hagen failed to touch second base after a double by Ingraham in the sixth inning.
“I saw the play, and it looked like (Hagen) made the right play,” Cormell said. “To be honest, I don’t think it was the right call, but it’s human error. The umpires are entitled to that.”
Chris Hall got the start for the Ironmen and went five innings. He allowed one run on four hits, walked one and struck out six.
His only major mistake came in the second inning. West Virginia got its first run on a double by catcher Chris Kay.
Earlier in the inning, designated hitter Jeremy Robinson reached second on an odd play.
When Hall struck out first baseman Blake Roberts, most of the Ironmen infield headed toward the dugout. Realizing there were only two outs, Robinson sprinted to an uncovered second base.
Marlowe, who was drafted in the 21st round by the Blue Jays in this year’s draft, threw an efficient seven innings. The right-hander gave up one run on just two hits, walked four and struck out eight.
Ironmen reliver Phil Brua pitched two scorless innings to pick up the win.
“We seem to be a streaky team, winning three in a row then losing some,” Cormell said. “We’re starting to pick it up, so hopefully we’ll do out there tomorrow and do it again.”
The Ironmen and Miners will play again at The Pipe Yard tonight at 7:05 p.m.

Walks, hit batters and plain bad luck plagued the Ironmen in a 6-4 loss to the Quincy Gems Sunday at The Pipe Yard, extending their losing streak to four.

Starter Aaron Hilt (0-3) pitched an erratic four innings, allowing six runs on four hits. The right-hander struck out three, walked two and hit four batters.

“We hit too many guys and walked too many guys,” manager Eric Cormell said. “That put us in a bad spot. We just have to make those adjustments and do better tomorrow.”

Trailing in the eighth inning, James DiBiasio almost brought the Ironmen back in the game when he send a hard line drive to right field. Quincy’s Jon Meyers made a diving catch to end the inning, stranding two runners on base.

Whether it was hard drives hit right at fielders, spectacular plays by the opposing defense or close calls on the basepaths, the Ironmen couldn’t catch many breaks.

“In situation like this, you can put your head down and keep the losing streak going,” said Austin Ingraham, who was 2-for-3 with a run on the day. “That’s not how we look at it. Our attitudes are positive, and I’m confident we can turn this around.”

River McWilliams came out of the bullpen to throw five scoreless innings. He faced the minimum amount of batters three times, allowing two hits.

“I just wanted to go in there, throw strikes and give the team a chance to come back,” McWilliams said. “We’re hitting the ball hard, but they just didn’t go through today.”

The hits fell in just one inning for the Ironmen. Four runs crossed the plate on five singles in the second.

With two outs, Matt McAllester hit a slow roller to third. He beat out the throw, allowing DiBiasio to score from third.

Will Hodges took the Quincy defense by surprise, sprinting from second to reach the plate ahead of the catcher’s tag.

DiBiasio and Hodges also had RBI singles in the inning, giving the Ironmen a short-lived 4-1 lead.

Hilt pitched himself into trouble in the fourth inning, hitting two batters and giving up two hits and a walk before the first out was recorded.

Andrew Host it a hard single over third base to bring two runs home. Quincy scored five runs in the inning and took a 6-4 lead.

Hilt also ran himself into trouble in the first, loading the bases with a walk and two hit batters. Quincy center fielder Vinnie Fayard hit a fly ball to Tony Brunetti in left field, allowing leadoff batter Alex Jones to tag and score from third. Brunetti, however, threw out Jake Hibbard trying to tag from second to end the inning.

Quincy starter Cody Kopilchack pitched well outside of the second, going five innings. The righty allowed four runs, eight hits, struck out four and walked two.

Aaron Brett pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save of the season.

“These guys are working hard and putting in the time to improve on things,” Cormell said. “We’re due for some good luck and good karma.”

The Ironmen will try to break the losing streak when they host the West Virginia Miners tonight at The Pipe Yard at 7:05 p.m.

The Lorain County Ironmen came out hot at Chillicothe Saturday night, jumping out to a 2-0 lead through three innings. The Paints tied the score in the bottom of the fourth and took the lead in the fifth on a solo home run by Adam Gecewich (Ohio University).

The Paints closed out the game with a final of 8-2.

The Ironmen scored first when Nick Hamilton (Kent State) singled home Evan Melendez (Ashland University). They took a 2-0 lead when Hamilton singled home Matt McAllester (Ashland University). Hamilton ended the game 1 for 2 and reached base all four times to the plate.

Ironmen starter Eric Knight (Oberlin College) threw three hitless innings to start the game. He ended up going 5 1/3 innings allowed six runs, walked one and struck out five. He took the loss to drop his record to 0-1.

The Ironmen will be back at the Pipe Yard on Sunday to face the Quincy Gems. It will be a 6:05 start. It’s also Vegas Jewelers Diamond Dig night. Stop at Vegas Jewelers in Amherst for you chance to win a $500 diamond. You can catch all the action on Ironmen radio at www.lcironmenbaseball.com.

For the third straight night, the Ironmen went into the 9th inning tied at the Pipe Yard.

The first was ended by the weather. The second was a walk-off fielder's choice.

The third was a 15- inning marathon that ended with an RBI single by Evan Melendez to give the Ironmen a 3-2 victory over the DeKalb County Liners.

"It was a low pitch, so it was easy to drop the barrel of the bat on it," Melendez said.

Nick Hamilton led off the bottom of the 15th with a bunt single, then Nick Grieco sacrificed him to second.

Melendez, with first base open, ended the game with a hard single that fell just short of the center fielder's glove.

"I wasn't exactly posing the biggest threat with during the game," said Melendez, who had two hits in seven at bats before his final plate appearance. "I didn't know if they would walk me, but I knew they wouldn't give me a good pitch to hit."

Ironmen (5-6) starter Aaron Hilt gave up one run in the first inning but was sharp for all of his six innings on the mound. The right- hander struck out six and walked two.

He scattered six hits and did not allow a runner to reach second base after the second inning.

Lorain County got its first two runs in the third inning. Tony Brunetti lined a single to right, and an error by DeKalb County's Matt Lamore allowed Melendez to score from second.

The single would have been hit too hard for Melendez to score, but Lamore overran the ball on his running charge.

Then with Matt McAllester on third, Brunetti tried to steal second but halted halfway. McAllester broke for home during the ensuing rundown and was able to reach the plate before the tag.

Brunetti advanced to second on a fielder's interference by second baseman Joe Long.

DeKalb County (1-5) tied the game with a run in the seventh inning.

With one out, Trevor Popp hit a soft grounder between first and second that couldn't be fielded in time. Leadoff hitter Kenton Parmley drove Popp home with a double down the left field line.

Chris Barnett, who relieved Hilt in the seventh, got Joe DeBernardis to pop out to center with a runner on third to end the inning.

The Ironmen bullpen shut out the Liners from the seventh inning on. Five pitchers combined for nine innings, giving up three hits with nine strikeouts.

"It wasn't ideal to use as many guys as we did," Ironmen manager Eric Cormell said, "but we ended up coming through and getting the win. So we'll take it."

Long started the 11th inning by getting hit by a Phil Brua fastball and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.

Popp hit a slow grounder to first and just beat Brua to the bag, moving the runners up a base.

But the righty side-armer got out of jam by getting Beckmann to ground to second.

Brua also pitched a perfect 12th and scoreless 13th.

Billy Urban pitched the top of the 14th and struck out Ryan O'Gara with the bases loaded to keep the game tied.

DeKalb County starter Cody Hallahan went 8 1/3 innings, striking out eight and allowing just five hits.

Notes

• Shortstop Billy Urban was named to the 2010 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American team for his play at St. Bonaventure this season. He had a .337 batting average and 44 RBI, which were both second best on the team.

• Lorain County has tonight off and will play at home against the Butler Bluesox at 7:05 p.m. at the Pipe Yard. The team will see the Indians game today on their day off.

It might have taken a day longer than expected, but the Ironmen snapped their four-game losing streak with a walk-off 4-3 win over the DeKalb County (Ill.) Liners.

Just like Saturday night’s game that was suspended by rain, the score was tied 3-3 entering the ninth inning.

But this time, the Ironmen were able to finish.

With runners on first and third and one out, first baseman Austin Ingraham hit what seemed like a double-play ball up the middle.

Knowing that only getting the force at second would still allow the winning run to score, Liners second baseman Joe Long hurried his throw, sending it flying over the first baseman’s head.

“I just wanted to hit the ball up in the air, which is pretty much the opposite of what happened,” Ingraham said. “I can’t say some of the words that were going through my head as I was running to first.”

Tony Brunetti lined a double down the first base line with one out in the inning but was unable to score on a single by designated hitter Stephen Hagen.

“The outfield was playing pretty shallow, and there was only one out,” Brunetti said. “There’s a lot of things that can happen at third, like a passed ball or sac fly or a grounder. I think coach made the right decision.”

Making his first start in the Prospect League, Oberlin College’s Eric Knight, who is from Arizona, went six innings, allowing one earned run on seven hits. The right hander struck out four and walked one.

He got out a jam in the sixth inning when he got a strikeout and induced a pop fly on the infield with runners on the corners.

“He established his fastball and was able to throw is curve for strikes,” Ironmen manager Eric Cormell said. “When you can do that, you are going to be successful.”

The Ironmen (4-6) hitters were aggressive at the plate, swinging at pitches early in the count. They tallied 11 hits, including three each by Hagen and shortstop Billy Urban.

“Offensive teams are usually a little more aggressive, especially when the pitcher is throwing strikes,” Cormell said. “We’ve been doing a good job of putting the ball in play and were aggressive on the base paths. That’s our style of baseball.”

Western Reserve graduate Brandon Cantrill, who also plays at Oberlin College, came in the seventh inning with a 3-1 lead and inherited runners on second and third. Cantrill gave up a two-run single to Liners third baseman Adam Beckmann.

Both runs were unearned due to an error by Urban.

Otherwise, Cantrill went two innings with one hit and one walk.

Patrick Mulligan (2-1) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth inning. He gave up two hits, including a blooper over the shortstop’s head with two outs.

Urban took advantage of an aggressive base running attempt, gunning down Joey Bowens trying to get to third.

DeKalb County (1-4) starter Adam Karger went seven innings and threw over 120 pitches. He struck out five, walked five and hit two batters.

“I don’t know what their bullpen situation is, but we are playing so many games in such a short amount of time,” Cormell said. “Making that adjustment is important for every player, and I think these guys are starting to figure it out.”

Admiral King’s J.T. Feldkamp, who plays at Ohio Dominican, drove in the Ironmen’s first run of the game with single through the left side to score Hagen in the second inning.

Fellow Admiral King graduate Matt Toth brought a run home with a bases-loaded walk in the fourth.

The Iromen will be at home tonight to take on the Liners at 7:05 p.m.

Notes

• Saturday evening’s rain-suspended game with the Slippery Rock Sliders will be completed the next time the Sliders are back in town — June 28 and 29.

• DeKalb County came into last night’s game batting .177 as a team.