The South Webster Jeeps entered Tuesday’s Division III sectional tournament championship game on a hot streak.

Wednesday, May 10, 2000

The South Webster Jeeps entered Tuesday’s Division III sectional tournament championship game on a hot streak.

The Jeeps had won nine in a row including upset wins over Wheelersburg and Minford.

But the only thing that kept the Jeeps hot on this day was the 90 degree temperatures because the Ironton Fighting Tigers were applying a cold treatment.

Behind the six-hit pitching of Chad Parker and an 11-hit attack, the Fighting Tigers beat the Jeeps 6-2 for their fourth sectional title in five years.

"South Webster was on a roll coming in, so we didn’t know what to expect," Ironton coach Mark Lewis said. "But Chad battled and threw a heck of a game, we hit the ball well against a good pitcher, and we played well in the field."

Parker struck out seven and walked only two as he improved to 4-1. Matt Craft fanned six and walked two in taking the defeat.

"Any time you don’t walk people and don’t make errors, you’ve got a chance to win. The only error we had was meaningless. We played pretty well, but the road ahead is a lot tougher," said Lewis.

The road ahead is the district semifinals Tuesday at Northwest. Ironton (13-8) will face No. 1-ranked Wheelersburg.

Parker and Craft were locked in a scoreless duel for three and one-half innings. Ironton then broke the deadlock with two runs in the fourth.

Josh Harmon doubled to start the inning, went to third when Greg Mountain grounded out, and scored on Jimmy Peyton’s line single to left.

Peyton went to second when the throw back to the infield got loose and he came around on a double by Matt White to the fence in left.

The Jeeps (15-10) got a run back in the top of the fifth.

Michael Coriell singled, moved up on a ground out, and scored on Josh Justice’s two-out base hit.

Ironton answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning to go in front 4-1.

Drew Mains walked to open the inning but was forced at second by Clark Cooper. Jon Sites then tripled to center as Cooper scored.

After a ground out against a drawn-up infield for the second out, Parker doubled to score Sites.

South Webster staged a major threat in the sixth that produced only one run.

With two outs, Les Claxon singled, Craft walked, and Luke Dixon singled to center to make it 4-2.

David Shope beat out an infield roller to load the bases, but Parker struck out the next batter to end the inning.

The Fighting Tigers tacked on a couple of insurance runs in their half of the inning.

With one out, White singled, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on a throwing error, and scored when Mains reached on a throwing error.

Cooper singled pinch-runner Derek Moore to third, and another wild pitch scored the run.

Harmon, Peyton, and White all went 2-3 and Site 2-4 to pace Ironton’s offense.

So. Webster 000 011 0 – 2 6 2

Ironton 000 222 x – 6 11 1

Matt Craft and David Shope. Chad Parker and Jon Sites. W-Parker 4-1 (7-K, 2-W). L-Craft (6-K, 2-W). WP-Craft 2. 2B-Ironton: Josh Harmon 2, Chad Parker. 3B-Ironton: Jon Sites. LOB-South Webster 6, Ironton 6. Hitting-South Webster: Les Claxon 1-3, Luke Dixon 1-3 (RBI), David Shope 1-3, Michael Coriell 2-3, Josh Justice 1-3 (RBI); Ironton: Clark Cooper 1-4, Jon Sites 2-4 (RBI), Josh Harmon 2-3, Chad Parker 1-2 (RBI), Greg Mountain 1-3, Jimmy Peyton 2-3 (RBI), Matt White 2-3 (RBI). Time- 1:52.