TUSCUMBIA, Ala. — The West Point Warriors took a road trip over to Deshler for a pair of games with Danville and Wayne County (TN) Saturday afternoon and they returned home with a pair of wins. A big sixth inning helped lead the Warriors get past the Hawks 11-6 and a strong pitching performance from Sylar Philyaw helped the Warriors shut out Wayne County 9-0.
West Point 11 – Danville 6
Colton McCoy got the start for West Point against Danville and retired the Hawks on just nine pitches. The Warriors got in the run column first in their half as Andrew Putman led off the inning with a double to left field and would later move to third on a groundout by J.D. Cochran. McCoy lined an RBI triple to center field to give West Point the early lead.
The score remained the same until the third inning, when Danville got something going to lead off the inning. A trio of West Point errors put runners on the corners with one out for the Hawks, then an RBI single to center field tied the game up at one. Later in the inning, back-to-back two-out RBI doubles broke the tie and gave Danville a 3-1 lead. The Warriors cut into the deficit in their half as Putman led off the inning with a single and a pair of wild pitches later, Putman was on third. After a double play, McCoy hit an RBI infield single to cut it to 3-2.
After a scoreless fourth, Danville added to their lead in the top of the fifth as a two-run home run with two outs pushed their lead to 5-2. The Hawks looked to widen their lead in the sixth as they had runners on the corners with one out, but Jay Lamar shut down their rally in a hurry as he got a strikeout, then McCoy threw out the runner attempting to steal second to get out of the inning unscathed.
West Point’s offense exploded in their half as they ended up batting around. Philyaw drew a leadoff walk, then Lamar reached on an error and Bryson Phillips reached on an infield single to load the bases. Boston Freeman drew a walk to bring home a run, then Putman tied the game at five on a two-run double to center field. Brody Freeman got hit by the pitch to load the bases once again, then Cochran lined an RBI single to right field to give West Point a 6-5 lead.
They were far from done, though, as McCoy got hit by the pitch to force in yet another run, Lane Stewart lined a two-run single to right field, McCoy scored on a double-play ball, and a wild pitch allowed Lamar to cross the plate. When it was all said and done, the Warriors went from being down 5-2 to up 11-5 going into the top of the seventh. A two-out RBI double by the Hawks cut it to 11-6, but Lamar struck out the next batter to end the game as West Point ended up winning their game over Danville in comeback fashion 11-6.
McCoy went three-for-three with a trio of RBIs for West Point. Putman finished with three hits and a pair of RBIs. Stewart added a hit and a pair of RBIs. Cochran ended up with a hit and an RBI. Boston Freeman added an RBI. Lamar ended up with a pair of hits, while Brody Freeman and Phillips each chipped in with a hit of their own.
West Point 9 – Wayne County 0
Philyaw got the nod for West Point against Wayne County and retired them in order on 11 pitches. The Warriors struck first in their half as Putman reached on an infield single. Cochran hit a one-out single to right field and Putman moved up to third on a fly ball by McCoy. Stewart brought home Putman on an RBI single as the Warriors took the early lead.
Philyaw retired Wayne County in order in the second and West Point added another run in their half. Putman hit a two-out single to left field, then Brody Freeman hit an RBI double to left field to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead. Philyaw continued to shut down Wayne County as he didn’t gave up a hit through three innings. Wayne County got in the hit column in the fourth inning as they hit a one-out single to center field, but Philyaw got a strikeout and a fly out to get out of the inning unscathed. Philyaw allowed a pair of hits in the fifth inning, but a lineout got him out of another jam.
West Point continued to add on to their lead in their half of the fifth. Stewart hit a one-out single to left field, then a Philyaw double put runners on second and third. Back-to-back RBI doubles by Lamar and Gus McKenney pushed their lead to 5-0. The Warriors put up four more runs in the sixth as three straight batters got hit by the pitch with one out, then Stewart hit an RBI single to make it 6-0. Philyaw hit an RBI infield single, then with two outs, Stewart scored on a Wayne County error and a passed ball allowed Philyaw to cross the plate to give West Point a 9-0 lead. A one-out walk didn’t faze Philyaw at all as he struck out the final two batters to end the game as West Point finished 2-0 on the day after their 9-0 shutout win over Wayne County.
Philyaw finished with four hits and an RBI for West Point (10-8). Stewart added three hits and a pair of RBIs. Lamar ended up with a hit and a pair of RBIs. Brody Freeman and McKenney each ended up with a hit and an RBI. Putman added a pair of hits and Cochran chipped in with a hit of his own.
West Point has now won three straight games and five out of their last six. They will look to make it four in a row on Monday as they will travel to take on Oneonta.
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