HAMLIN — Nothing kickstarts a season like a pair of wins.
The Ira Bulldog baseball team took down Stamford (7-2) and Haskell (3-1) on the first day of the Hamlin Baseball Tournament Friday.
In the Stamford game, head coach Toby Goodwin put the ball in senior Karson Valentine’s hands and the senior held Stamford to just two runs over four innings.
The Bulldog offense gave him some breathing room early.
Sophomore Drew Porter drew a walk, scoring senior Anthony Coy and giving Ira its first run of the season. Sophomore Bryton Partain followed that up with a two-run single to right field, scoring senior Matthew Brazil and Valentine, putting Ira ahead 3-0 early.
Stamford got a pair of runs back in the third inning on a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single, cutting the Bulldog lead to 3-2, but Valentine closed the door and didn’t allow any more damage.
Sophomore Holden Rios scored on a Coy single and senior Nathan Goodwin scored on a Stamford fielding error, putting Ira ahead 5-2 heading into the final three innings.
In the top of the fifth inning, senior Brayden White doubled to left, allowing sophomore Cody McCowen to score.
Brazil drove in another run with a sixth inning double, scoring Valentine. Coy took over on the mound in the bottom of the fifth inning. The senior pitched a perfect fifth and sixth inning, striking out three.
In the Bulldogs’ second game of the day, Coy took the mound as the starter and gave his team four innings of three-hit, one-run baseball. Haskell got a run early on an RBI single, but Coy allowed nothing else. Ira responded in the bottom of the first inning with Brazil’s RBI double and scored a second run when McCowen scored on a Haskell fielding error, giving them the early 2-1 lead.
Coy kept Haskell off the board over the next two innings. Ira scored again in the third inning when Valentine scored on a wild pitch, extending the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-1. Coy kept Haskell scoreless through the fourth inning and Valentine pitched the final two innings, not allowing a hit and striking out three.
Ira will continue play in the Hamlin Tournament Saturday.
Ira hitters vs. Stamford: Nathan Goodwin, 1 run scored; Anthony Coy, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 RBI, 1 run scored; Karson Valentine, 3 hits, 2 runs scored; Matthew Brazil, 1 double, 1 RBI, 1 run scored; Drew Porter, 1 RBI, 1 walk; Brayden White, 1 double, 1 RBI; Bryton Partain, 2 hits, 2 RBI; Holden Rios, 3 walks, 1 run scored
Ira pitchers vs. Stamford: K. Valentine, 4 innings pitched, 4 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts; A. Coy, 2 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 runs, 3 strikeouts
Ira hitters vs. Haskell: N. Goodwin, 1 walk; A. Coy, 1 run scored; K. Valentine, 1 hit, 1 run scored; M. Brazil, 1 double, 1 RBI; B. Partain, 1 hit; Ike Weaver, 1 walk
Ira pitchers vs. Haskell: A. Coy, 4 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts; K. Valentine, 2 innings pitched, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 0 hits