Rahal stops Grand Ridge in Dixie Boys baseball

Dixie Boys action continued at Optimist Park Thursday night with Rahal-Miller taking a 7-5 win over the Grand Ridge Indians in game one. Grand Ridge came back in the second game to defeat Barnes Tire 6-4.

Jae Elliott started on the mound for Rahal-Miller, going two innings before giving way to Bradly Middleton for the final four innings. Elliott allowed four runs on five hits with one hit batsman and no walks. Elliott fanned two. Middleton allowed one run on three hits while striking out four.

Grand Ridge countered with Aaron Green on the mound through three innings with Austin Branch taking over for two innings. Brandon Moats closed out the final inning of play. Green allowed three runs on six hits, two walks and struck out three. Branch allowed three runs on two hits and one error. Moats allowed one run on one walk and one hit.

In the top of the first inning. Garrett Harris led off with a single and scored on a triple by Patrick McClain. McClain stole second and scored on a single by Green.

Rahal Miller answered with two runs in their half of the first. A walk to Zac Davis led things off with Davis taking second on a steal. A single by Middleton put runners on the corners. Rooks flied out to centerfield to score Davis. With one out, Seth Singletary singled home Middleton. Mason Melvin singled but was out trying for second on a throw from Michael Mader to Garrett Harris.

Grand Ridge added two runs in the second inning. With one out, Brandon Moats singled and moved to second when Harris was hit by a pitch. A single by McClain scored two.

Rahal-Miller went down in order in the bottom of the second inning.

Middleton retired the side in the top the third inning. Rahal-Miller added a run in the bottom half of the third. Zac Davis led off with a single but was picked off at first. With two outs, Rooks was issued a walk and moved to second on a single by Elliott. A single by Singletary scored Rooks.

A one-out hit by Rontravious Brown was the only offense for Grand Ridge in the top of the fourth. Rahal-Miller was retired in order in their half of the fourth.
Grand Ridge added its final run in the fifth inning. A singled by Harris got things started. McClain singled to put runners on the corners. Mader sacrificed to centerfield to score Harris. A fly out ended the inning.

Rahal-Miller countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Davis singled and scored on a double by Middleton. Rooks reached on an error that scored Middleton. Rooks then scored with one out on a sacrifice by Singltary.

A two out single by Brown was the only offense in the top of the sixth inning for Grand Ridge. Rahal picked up one insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with the game being called on time limit. A walk to Tyler Blank was followed by an RBI single by Davis.

In the second game of the evening, Grand Ridge faced off against Barnes Tire.

Kaidd Golden took the mound for Barnes Tire, allowing six runs on six hits, one walk and one hit batsman. Ryan Riley came on to close out the game, allowing no runs on no hits, with one walk issued.

Barnes Tire sent Patrick McClain to the mound who allowed two runs on three hits in four innings of play. Mader came on to close out the final two innings, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk.

Grand Ridge scored one in the first inning on a one-out single by McClain who stole second and moved to third on a sacrifice by Mader. McClain crossed the plate on passed ball for the first run of the game. McClain retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning and Golden returned the favor in the top of the second for Grand Ridge.

Ryan Hughes was hit by a pitch with two outs in the bottom of the inning for the only base runner for Rahal-Miller in the bottom of the second inning.

Grand Ridge plated three runs in the third inning. With one out, McClain was issued a walk and moved to second on single by Green. A passed ball moved the runners to second and third and a walk to Mader loaded the bases. McClain crossed the plate on a passed ball for the second urn of the game and a single by Green reloaded the bases. Austin Branch singled home two but was out trying to take home. Barnes Tire was retired in order in the bottom of the third inning.

A two-out single by Brandon Moats was the only base runner for Grand Ridge in the fourth inning. Barnes plated two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Brandon Burch beat out a throw from short and scored on a triple by Golden. Golden scored on a sharply hit ball down the third base line. Griffin scored when Blanton beat out a throw from short. A walk to Zack Johnson followed but two were left on base when the final two batters went down swinging.

Grand Ridge answered in the fifth with two runs. Harris singled and moved to second when McClain was hit by a pitch. Both runners advanced on a passed ball with Harris scoring on a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Mader. A single by Green scored another and Branch reached on a walk to put runners on the corners. Consecutive strikeouts ended the inning. Rahal-Miller rallied in the final inning with two runs. Chris Godwin doubled, followed by a sac to centerfield by Golden. Kyle Griffin singled home a run and Hughes picked up an RBI on a ground out to short. Blanton beat out a throw from short. Johnson drew a walk but a strikeout ended the inning and the game.