It was "do or die" for the Ironton Junior League All-Stars, so Ethan Preston and Chris Warner "did."

Preston threw a four-hitter and drove in one run while Warner homered and knocked in a pair of runs as Ironton stayed alive in the District 11 Junior League All-Star tournament with a 7-4 win over Symmes Valley Monday.

Preston, who was 2-for-3 at the plate including a double, struck out three, walked two, hit a batter and allowed only two earned runs. Warner was 2-2 as Ironton had six hits.

Jeremy Hatfield was 2-4 to lead Symmes Valley.

After a scoreless first inning, Ironton took a 1-0 lead in the second inning.

Preston doubled, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Warner.

Symmes Valley came back to score twice in the third inning.

Gage Patterson walked, Robby Powell was safe on an error and Hatfield had an RBI double. Brandon Bowling grounded out as the second run scored.

Ironton tied the game in the fourth inning when Preston walked, stole second, moved to third base on a ground out by Ryan Sias and came home when Jon Monnig reached on an error.

Ironton took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth inning.

Josh Pancake walked, stole second base, took third on Ryan O'Leary's sacrifice bunt and scored when Keith Wetzel grounded out.

Caleb Blackburn then walked, pinch-runner Tommy Waginger went to third on a hit by Howie Lucas and Preston delivered an RBI single.

The lead went to 7-2 in the sixth inning as Ironton scored three times.

Warner led off with a home run. Pat Gagai followed with a single and Jon Monnig put down a sacrifice bunt that was thrown down the right field line allowing Gagai to score.

Monnig stole second base and then headed for third base on a wild pitch. The attempted throw to third went into left field and Monnig came home to score.

Symmes Valley mounted a rally in the bottom of the seventh with a couple of runs.

Eastham singled, Patterson was hit by a pitch and Powell and Hatfield followed with run-scoring singles. But Preston got a fly out and a ground out to end the game.

Ironton plays Fairland at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Ironton Senior League field.

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Sym. Valley0020002=444

Ethan Preston and Keith Wetzel. Robby Powell and Cody Bland. W-Preston (3-K, 2-BB, 1-HBP, 2-ER). L-Powell (6-K, 6-BB, 2-ER). Hitting-Ironton: Chris Warner 2-2, Ethan Preston 2-3, Pat Gagai 1-1, Howie Lucas 1-4; Symmes Valley: Robby Powell 1-4, Jeremy Hatfield 2-4, Eastham 1-3. 2B-Ironton: Ethan Preston; SV: Jeremy Hatfield. HR-Ironton: Chris Warner.