SCRAPPERS SWEEP SPIKES BEHIND STELLAR PITCHING
By Ty Bartell
NILES OH- The Mahoning Valley Scrappers completed a sweep of the State College Spikes with a dominant 7-0 victory on Thursday night, highlighted by another stellar performance from their pitching staff.
Hunter Dryden started on the mound for Mahoning Valley, while State College countered with Jaxon Dalena. After a scoreless first inning, the Scrappers broke through in the bottom of the second. Carson Crawford delivered a clutch two-out, two-run double, giving Mahoning Valley an early 2-0 lead.
The decisive inning came in the third. An error allowed Will Shannon to reach base and brought home a run, extending the lead to 3-0. Mahoning Valley added three more runs in the inning with a two-RBI single by Coen Niclai and an RBI triple by Beau Ankeney, putting the Scrappers ahead 6-0.
Dryden was masterful on the mound, pitching six shutout innings, allowing just five hits, walking none, and striking out eight. Darrell Johnson Jr. pitched a scoreless seventh inning. The Scrappers tacked on another run in the bottom of the seventh when Alton Gyselman drew a bases-loaded walk, making it 7-0.Amaan Khan kept the Spikes scoreless in the eighth, and Kolby Dougan secured the win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. The victory sealed a three-game sweep of State College (5-4).
Mahoning Valley (6-3) moves into sole possession of second place in the MLB Draft League standings. The Scrappers now head to Trenton, New Jersey, to face the Thunder (3-6) in a three-game series starting Friday night.
