CHLLICOTHE -- Baseball is about pitching, and Derek Cummings was about all the Indian Valley Braves needed.

Cummings threw a one-hitter as the Indian Valley Braves beat the Ironton Fighting Tigers 7-1 in the Division III regional semifinals Friday at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

"Let's face it. Their pitcher was good. He was one of the two best pitchers we've seen all year," Lewis said. "We made some errors and our pitching wasn't sharp like it has been, but when you only get one hit, you're not going to beat anybody."

Cummings struck out 10, walked three and allowed only an infield singled to Derek Moore in the third inning.

"There were two things we wanted to do," Braves coach Dave DiDonato. "We didn't want to walk their other hitters, and we wanted to keep Whaley, White and Sands off base. I was surprised how well (Cummings) handled the middle of their order. That's the hardest he's thrown all year."

Indian Valley (24-7) played Bellaire Saturday in the regional finals. Bellaire blanked Fairland 12-0 in six innings in the other regional semifinal.

The Braves got all the runs they needed with three in the first inning.

Armand DiDonato walked, moved up on a wild pitch, and scored on Justin Higgenbotham's double.

Matt Gasser walked, Greg Reichman had an RBI double, and Judd Edwards lofted a sacrifice fly.

Indian Valley got an unearned run in the third when Cummings reached on an error, Higgenbotham singled him to second, and then Cummings stole third and scored when the throw went into left field.

Ironton got its only run in the bottom of the third.

Chris Collins drew a two-out walk, stole second, moved to third on Moore's infield hit, and scored when Kevin Williams reached on an error.

The Braves answered with a run in the fourth without the aid of a hit.

Jason Roth was safe on an error, stole second, moved to third when Dallas Winrod was safe on a fielder's choice, and came home on a throwing error.

The lead went to 6-1 in the fifth when Gasser singled, Edwards walked, and Jason Roth singled.

Higgenbotham had a two-out home run in the seventh.

Matt White, the first of three Ironton pitchers, took the loss. DiDonato was glad the Braves were able to get a big lead heading into the late innings.

"We didn't want to face Sands trailing," DiDonato said.

Ironton finished the season 18-10. It was the first regional trip since 1998 when the Fighting Tigers finished as state runners-up.

"It's tough to lose when you get to this level, but you have to keep things in perspective. This was just one game in the season. We had a good year. The kids gave a great effort all season. There's some guys who are going to be missed," Lewis said.

Indian Valley3011110--762

Ironton0010000--114

Derek Cummings and Justin Higgenbotham. Matt White, Nick Collins (3), Josh Sands (6) and Greg Mountain. W-Cummings (10-K, 3-W, 0-ER). L-White 5-5 (3-K, 2-W, 4-R, 3-ER, 3-H). (Collins 2-H, 2-R, 1-ER, 3-K, 2-W; Sands 1-H, 1-R, 1-ER, 1-K, 3-W). WP-Cummings, White. PB-Mountain. DP-Indian Valley (2nd). LOB-Indian Valley 9, Ironton 3. 2B-IV: Justin Higgenbotham, Greg Reichman. HR-IV: Justin Higgenbotham. SF-IV: Judd Edwards. SB-IV: Derek Cummings, Jayson Roth; Ironton: Chris Collins, Derek Moore. Hitting-IV: Justin Higgenbotham 3-4 (2 RBI), Matt Gasser 1-2, Greg Reichman 1-3 (RBI), Judd Edwards RBI, Jayson Roth 1-2 (RBI); Ironton: Derek Moore 1-3.