Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

When he was younger, there’s a good chance that when Ashton Duncan ran in the house his parents yelled at him to “shut the door!”
Duncan has been doing a little “shutting the door” for Ironton as he shut the door on the Portsmouth Clay Panthers over the final 1.2 innings as the Fighting Tigers picked up a 12-7 win on Tuesday.
Duncan entered the game after Clay had just scored 3 runs and cut Ironton’s lead to 10-7. He was touched for a single and then retired the next 5 batters — 3 on strikes — to end the game and get his second save.
Before Duncan did his slamming of the door, Ironton banged out 10 hits and built a big lead.
Clay (9-4) went on top in the first inning with a pair of runs.
Shaden Malone led off with a single and Clay Cottle tripled him home. Jaden Jessee then hit a sacrifice fly.
But Ironton (12-3) came right back with 8 runs in the bottom of the inning with 2 outs.
Cameron Deere singled, Jacob Sloan walked and Ryan Ashley singled to load the bases. Cole Freeman doubled to clear the bases and it was 3-2.
Trevor Kleinman was hit by a pitch and Nate Bias singled to drive in 2 runs. Ashton Duncan singled to put runners at first and second. Kyle Howell and Jon Wylie followed with RBI singles.
The Fighting Tigers added a pair of runs in the fourth inning to lead 10-2.
Howell reached on an error and stole second and third. Wylie was hit by a pitch, Peyton Aldridge hit into a force out as Howell scored. Aldridge stole second and third and scored on a passed ball.
Neither team scored in the fifth but Clay got 3 runs in the sixth.
Evan Woods walked, Carson Porginski singled and Mitchell King walked to load the bases. Woods scored on a wild pitch and Greg Gleason grounded out as Porginski scored. Drew Zuefle got a base hit to score King and it was 10-7.
Ashton Duncan came on in relief and got a strike out and a ground out to end the inning.
Ironton came right back in the bottom of the inning to scored 2 runs.
Wylie singled, stole second and third and scored on a passed ball. Sloan doubled and scored when Ashley’s fly ball was played into an error and it was 12-7.
Duncan then struck out the first 2 batters in the seventh and then got a ground out to first to end the game and record the save.
Wyle was 2-3 with 2 runs batted in, Ashley 2-3, Bias 1-2 and 2 RBI, Deere 1-1, Duncan 1-2 and Freeman 1-4 and 3 RBI.
Ironton hosts Fairland in a league showdown on Wednesday.
Ports. Clay 202 003 0 = 7 7 3
Ironton 800 202 x = 12 10 2
Shaden Malone, Jaden Jessee (1), Carson Porginski (5) and Mitchell King. Kyle Howell, Ben Taylor (4), Ashton Duncan (6) and Cole Freeman. W-Howell (IP-3.0, H-4, R-4, ER-4, K-3, BB-1). Save-Duncan (IP-1.2, H-1, K-3). Taylor (IP-2.1, H-2, R-3, ER-3, BB-2, HBP-1). L-Malone (IP-0.2, H-7, R-8, ER-8, K-1, BB-1, HBP-1). Jessee (IP-3.1, H-1, R-2, ER-0, K-4, BB1, HBP-1). Porginski (IP-2.0, H-2, R-2, ER-1, K-1). Hitting-PC: Shaden Malone 1-4, Clay Cottle 1-2 3B RBI, Evan Woods 1-3 RBI, Carson Porginski 1-4, Greg Gleason 1-3 RBI, Drew Zuefle 1-2 RBI, Evan Balestra 1-3; Ironton: Kyle Howell 1-4 RBI, Jon Wylie 2-3 2-RBI, Cameron Deere 1-1, Peyton Aldridge RBI, Jacob Sloan 1-3 2B, Ryan Ashley 2-3, Cole Freeman 1-4 2B 3-RBI, Nate Bias 1-2 2-RBI, Ashlton Duncan 1-2.