SCRAPPERS STRIKE THE SPIKES EARLY AND OFTEN

By Ty Bartell

NILES, Ohio — The Mahoning Valley Scrappers dominated the State College Spikes with an 11-0 shutout on Tuesday night, evening the series behind a stellar performance from four Mahoning Valley arms.
Joey Butz started on the mound for Mahoning Valley and set the tone early, keeping the Spikes off the board through 4.1 innings. The Scrappers grabbed the lead in the second inning with an RBI single from Jake Allgeyer, scoring Adam Juran to make it 1-0. They doubled the lead in the third when Blake McCrae came home on an RBI single to center field, extending the advantage to 2-0.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Butz handed the ball to Miles Hellums, who retired the next two batters in the fifth to maintain the shutout. The Scrappers then broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, scoring three runs. Drey Dirksen’s RBI single, Kota Suzuki’s RBI fielder’s choice, and a booming RBI triple from Drew Holderbach pushed the lead to 5-0.
Hellums faced a bases-loaded jam in the sixth but escaped unscathed thanks to a critical defensive play. Right fielder Suzuki caught a fly ball and threw out Austin Baal at home, completing a double play that kept the Spikes off the scoreboard. The Scrappers added another run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single from Chang-Yong Lee, increasing their lead to 6-0.

Hellums continued his strong relief work with a clean seventh inning, capping off 2.2 innings of scoreless pitching. The Scrappers put the game out of reach in the bottom of the seventh, scoring five more runs. Jake Tsukada’s two-RBI single, a bases-loaded walk to Dreylin Holmes, and another two-RBI single by Dirksen gave Mahoning Valley a commanding 11-0 lead. Evan Harmon and Sungkyung Kim each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the game, securing the shutout victory for the Scrappers.

With the win, Mahoning Valley (30-27, 14-9) moves within a game of the top spot in the second-half Draft League standings. The Scrappers will aim to win their fifth consecutive series in the rubber match against the Spikes (32-27, 13-11) on Wednesday, August 14th with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m