Philyaw's 2-hit performance gives Tigers bounce back win over Hornets

COAL GROVE — What do Rolaids and Dawson Philyaw have in common? They’re both great when you need some relief.

Philyaw came on to pitch six dominating innings in relief as the Ironton Fighting Tigers beat the Coal Grove Hornets 7-2 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Wednesday.

The senior left-hander gave just two hits and an earned run while striking out 11 of the 18 outs he recorded and did not walk a batter to get the win.

Philyaw and starter Jacob Hughes were going to split duties. Hughes struck out the side in the first inning but ran into some control problems in the second inning which led to Philyaw’s early summons.

“I feel like you always have to be mentally ready for anything in baseball. I knew I was going to pitch but I wasn’t expecting it to be that early,” said Philyaw. “That was the best I’ve felt on the mound in a while.

“(Catcher) Ethan (Sutton) called a great game for me and we realized they were struggling with certain pitches, so we really attacked that. I was able to hit my spots and execute all of my off-speed pitches in any count, which made the game a lot easier for me.”

Ironton head coach John Hunt said Philyaw’s performance was impressive.

“Dawson is what you call a pitcher and not just a thrower. He’s always thinking and studying the hitter. He had great control and command of his pitches,” said Hunt.

After a scoreless first inning, Ironton went up 1-0 in the top of the second when Tanner Kleinman singled, went to second when Carter Bridges reached on an error, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Carson Freeman’s ground out.

Coal Grove (3-6, 1-4) answered in the bottom of the inning when Leland McKnight walked and Truitt Fields belted a two-run home run to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead.

The lead was short-lived as Ironton answered with three runs in the top of the third inning.

Braydon Baker got a one-out double and scored on a hit by Ethan Sutton. Jacob Hughes followed and clubbed a two-run home run.

Ironton (5-2, 4-1) got a run in the sixth when Hughes led off with a walk, stole second and Philyaw helped his own cause with an RBI double.

The Fighting Tigers added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh.

Owen Gallion began the inning with a base hit and scored on Bryson Kerns’ double. Kerns went to third on the throw home and scored when Baker grounded out.

Hughes was 1-3 with the two-run homer, Sutton was 1-3, Philyaw 1-3 with a double and an RBI, both Kerns and Baker went 1-4 with a double and an RBI and Kleinman was 1-4.

Karder Keaton was 1-3 and Fields 1-3 with the two-run homer to account for the Hornets’ offense.

Brisen Collins started for the Hornets and went six innings giving up just six hits, five runs of which four were earned, with one strikeout and one walk.

Leland McKnight pitched an inning in relief allowing two hits and two earned runs with one strikeout and one walk.

Ironton 013 001 2 = 7 8 2

Coal Grove 020 000 0 = 2 2 3

Jacob Hughes, Dawson Philyaw (2) and Ethan Sutton. Brisen Collins, Leland McKnight (7) and Braden Schug. W-Philyaw (IP-6.0, H-2, R-1, ER-1, K-11, BB-0). Hughes (IP-1.0, H-0, R-1, ER-1, K-3, BB-2). L-Collins (IP-6.0, H-6, R-5, ER-4, K-1, BB-1). McKnight (IP-1.0, H-2, R-2, ER-2, K-1, BB-1). Hitting–Ironton: Bryson Kerns 1-4 2B RBI, Braydon Baker 1-4 2B RBI, Ethan Sutton 1-3 RBI, Jacob Hughes 1-3 HR 2-RBI, Tanner Kleinman 1-4, Dawson “The Big Unit” Philyaw 1-3 2B RBI, Carson Freeman 1-3 RBI, Owen Gallion 1-3; Coal Grove: Karder Keaton 1-3, Truitt Fields 1-3 HR 2-RBI.