It was obvious that Stratford pitcher Kevin Hahn decided to take his game play to another level for district competition. In the Spartan baseball team's district opener against visiting Eisenhower (5-7), Hahn had 11 strikeouts in a 9-4 win Tuesday night at Stratford’s ‘Backyard.’

“Kevin had his best outing of the year,” Stratford coach Tony Mardirosian said. “He was consistently down in the strike zone he was able to change speeds effectively. Really, he pitched as fine a game as he has all year long.”

Stratford (8-3) hit the board in the first when Jake Miller earned an RBI on a sacrifice fly to score Will Gould. But it was the second and third innings that won the game for Stratford.

In the second, the Spartans scored four runs. Gould got an RBI on a sacrifice fly, Jerry Young scored on a wild pitch, and Hahn hit a two-run double to extend the lead to 5-0.

The third inning was another strong showing for the Spartans. Ethan Jordan was on the plate and scored Andrew Mitchell on a fielder’s choice. With the bases loaded, Miller brought home two RBIs on an E-3. Michael Reed also scored on an error.

“Well, for the majority of the game I fell we played real well and I thought we had everything going the way we wanted it to,” Mardirosian said about the team performance. “All in all, we are happy to get a good win to start off district and we are looking forward to winning a whole lot more.”

Eisenhower did make a late push in the seventh inning to put some points on the board. Adrian Rivera earned an RBI-single to score Devin Miller. Then with two outs, Garrick Thompson blasted the game’s only home run (360 feet) over the left center wall. It was a two-run shot. The Eagles’ last run came on an error.

Both teams will play again on Friday in a double-header at Aldine’s Lansford Field. Stratford will play MacArthur at 4 p.m., followed by Eisenhower-Spring Woods at 7.

WP – Kevin Hahn (11 K)
LP – Denzel Pipkin
S – Matt Kitterman (2 K)

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