The Ironton Fighting Tigers enjoyed the long and short of it.

Ironton used the long ball to beat the Spring Valley (W.Va.) Wolverines 4-3 Wednesday in a game shortened to five innings due to darkness.

Derek Moore and Tyler Whaley each slugged home runs to trigger the offense and back the pitching efforts of Josh Sands and Jameson McKnight.

Whaley was 2-for-3, Kevin Williams and White 1-2, and Moore 1-3.

"We didn't have a lot of hits again, but it was nice to see Whaley and White get their bats going. We need them if we're going to be successful over the long haul," Ironton coach Mark Lewis said.

Sands went 3.1 innings to get the win. McKnight picked up the save with a scoreless relief stint.

"Josh got off to a shaky start, but he settled down and threw well. He got a little tired, and then Jameson came in and threw strikes," Lewis said.

John Debord singled, Jacob Johnson doubled and Nate Howard hit a one-out, three-run homer to put the T-Wolves up 3-0 to start the game.

Ironton got a run back in the bottom of the inning when Moore hit a one-out home run.

The Fighting Tigers got two runs back in the third.

With one out, Williams walked, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored when Moore grounded out. Whaley followed with a home run to tie the score.

The winning run came in the fifth when Williams singled, stole second, moved up on a wild pitch, and scored on a double by White.

Ironton (2-1) plays at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Russell, Ky., and visits Gallipolis on Friday.

Spring Valley30000-350

Ironton10201-450

Blain and Maddox. Josh Sands, Jameson McKnight (4) and Greg Mountain. W-Sands 1-0 (3-ER, 3-K, 2-W, 3-H). L-Blain (7-K, 3-W). Save-McKnight (0-R, 1-H, 0-K, 0-W).

SB-Ironton: Kevin Williams. LOB-Spring Valley 3, Ironton 4. 2B-SV: Jacob Johnson; Ironton: Matt White. HR-SV: Howard; Ironton: Derek Moore (2), Tyler Whaley (1). Hitting-Spring Valley: John Debord 2-3, Jacob Johnson 2-2, Nate Howard 1-3; Ironton: Kevin Williams 1-2, Derek Moore 1-3, Tyler Whaley 2-3, Matt White 1-2.