OREM – Dixie High pitcher Trevor Cox delivered a complete game to give the Flyers their second win of the day, 3-1 over Payson, to stay alive in the hunt for the 3A state baseball title Thursday at Brent Brown Ballpark.
Despite a scare in the first inning, DHS quickly recovered from a 1-0 deficit and held on to the lead the rest of the night.
The Payson Lions came out guns blazing in the first inning, scoring a run and loading the bases with only one out before a huge 5-3-2 double play shut them down. The Flyers never looked back.
“We had a little bit of a slow start,” said Flyers head coach Danny Ipson. “But we intentionally walked the batter to load the bases and our guys came through with the double play to get us out of the inning. Over the course of the state tourney, you get different types of wins and tonight we had to come from behind with our bats and then hold on the lead.”
After the gut check in the top of the first, Dixie’s Braxton Ipson answered with a solo home run over the right field fence to knot the score.
“It was a full count, so I knew the fastball was coming because they never have pitched against us,” Braxton Ipson said. “I thought they would give me it and that’s what I got. So I got a good swing.”
The Flyers built upon things in the second stanza. In the bottom of the second, a blooper by Tanner Webster brought in a run and a sacrifice fly by Drew Batchelor put the Flyers up 3-1, a lead they would not relinquish.
Webster, who had a great day from the plate with two hits and an RBI explained his success.
“Sometimes I just get lucky,” Webster said. “I tried to do whatever I could to help the team win. We just take it one game at a time and keep our mind on the task at hand.”
After DHS took the lead, excellent pitching by Cox and great defensive play by the Flyers kept the Lions off the board the rest of the night. Cox only allowed four hits and recorded six strikeouts to seal the victory for the Flyers.
“I was kind of rusty in the first inning,” Cox said. “But I realized a lot of them were fastball hitters, so I just pitched a lot of offspeed pitches to keep them on their toes. The guys backed me up really well and made major plays.”
His teammates added that Cox has a knack for getting his team out of sticky situations.
“Trevor (Cox) always does a really good job (in those situations),” said Webster. “He has always got us out of huge situations”
Braxton Ipson said that his team’s desire to win helped them stay alive Thursday night.
“Trevor pitched himself out of a hole,” Ipson said. “And after the first inning, it set the tone. I know our first game we started out slow but we were able get the momentum and we want to keep it going (tomorrow).”
Earlier Thursday Dixie, 18-9, rallied from a 5-2 deficit to eliminate Morgan 11-5. Taylor Strehlow and Cox both doubled and Dixie pounded out 12 hits. Austin Ruseler got the win as Dixie scored eight runs in the final two innings for the win.
The Flyers advance in the one-loss bracket and play Region 9 foe Canyon View Friday at 1:30 PM at Brent Brown Ballpark on the campus of UVU.
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @oldschoolag
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2013, all rights reserved.
