Hunt looks back on stellar 1st season at helm

Ironton's John Junt (center) talks to his team. (Photo by Randy Crank)

Ironton seniors pose with the district title trophy. (Photo by Randy Crank)

After what happened in his first season as a varsity head baseball coach, John Hunt is wondering what he has to do for an encore.

Hunt was named the head coach of the Ironton Fighting Tigers and in his first season his team went 19-4, won its first-ever Ohio Valley Conference baseball championship, won its first district title in 22 years, and finished one win from the Division 5 state tournament.

“These kids had three different coaches in three years, so step one was to make sure to create the type of culture and senior leadership I wanted in the program,” said Hunt.

“As a first-year coach, there were many things that I had to learn on the fly and now that I have been through it, I am definitely more prepared for next year.”

There were a lot of variables that helped make the season successful, and Hunt pointed to seniors Ian Ginger, Tyler Roach and Nick Sites for their leadership.

“This group of kids was a special group. The senior leadership was top-notch and all the players were hard workers and did not allow for any other way of doing things,” said Hunt. “We knew as long as we could stay healthy, we should be doing fine.

“I definitely think there is a renewed enthusiasm for baseball and now that I know the players better, I know what I will tell each player to work on through the winter. We should be in a better position to start next year than we were this year.”

Ironton will return several veterans including Tanner Kleinman, Braydon Baker, Carson Freeman, Bryson Kerns, Jacob Hughes, Dawson Philyaw, Ethan Sutton and Carter Bridges.

“This was a really good group of kids. This is a good group of athletes. There were a lot of kids close in ability,” said Hunt.

Although it was his first season as a coach, Hunt was far from a stranger to the game.

After a stellar career for the Green Bobcats, Hunt was signed to a scholarship with the Ohio University Bobcats where the hard-throwing left-hander had an impressive three seasons and was drafted in the sixth round by the Chicago White Sox organization.

He played rookie ball with the Bristol Sox, then played for the Hickory Crawdads and finally the Winston-Salem Warthogs.

“I did it for a while. It was a good time. I got to play with some really good guys. I used to literally take a couple of guys to the ballpark that ended up being big league stars. Carlos Lee was in my truck everyday when we were in Hickory. It was a good time. It went fast. You never think that stuff is going to go,” said Hunt.

It was during his final stop with Winston-Salem that Hunt decided to make a career change.

“That’s where I decided to go get my degree and do this stuff,” Hunt said of his teaching degree and coaching. “But we had a good time.”

Hunt takes a different view on how to workout players than a lot of coaches, colleges or professional organizations. He reflected on the famous Dr. James Andrews who is most focused on famous or prominent athletes. Hunt said he likes to follow the famed doctor.

“He said it’s a minimum of three months you should take off. Minimum three months,” said Hunt, going against the idea of playing year-round.

“I think the over-reliance on summer ball and travel ball can really hinder a player. There’s a lot of extraneous stuff. And kids shouldn’t start lifting too soon. They should let their bodies grow and progress and then slowly build up their arm’s strength and their velocity.”