NILES OH- Following a 2-3 road trip for Mahoning Valley, they found themselves back home in the
friendly atmosphere of Eastwood Field against the best team in the second half, The West Virginia Black Bears. As The Scrappers turned into The Cookie Tables for one night only, they were looking to give The Mahoning Valley faithful a treat for attending.

The Black Bears were anything but sweet, scoring off the jump in the top of the first inning, courtesy of Patrick Lee taking the first pitch of the game off his back, stealing second and coming home on a pair of sacrifice fly-outs. Cookie Table starting pitcher Elijah Pleasants managed to get out of the inning with no further damage done.

On the other side, starting pitcher Nate Madej was rolling for West Virginia, as he sent Mahoning Valley’s lineup down in order in the bottom of the first. The game remained a 1-0 game through the first three innings before TJ Reeves sent a screamer over the left field wall in the bottom of the fourth, knotting the game up at one run a piece.

The first half of the game had a pitchers duel as the script until the sixth inning. With the game tied 1-1, with a runner at third and two out, Cam Ridley shot a single to center field and regained the lead for The Black Bears 2-1. Pleasants would get the final out in the inning, notching the quality start under his belt for The Cookie Tables, but subsequently being on the hook for the loss.

Mahoning Valley had other plans for the bottom of the sixth inning with two on and two out, that man, TJ Reeves came through again by lining a single to center to tie the game up at two. The tie would be short lived with the next batter David Bermudez sending a boom shot out to left on the first pitch of his at bat. Promptly turning the game on its head, flipping the script and giving Mahoning Valley the 5-2 lead. Omar Veloz would tack on an additional run with an opposite field single, widening the lead 6-2.

Wasting little time getting some offense back, The Black Bears scored a run in the top of the seventh inning off a Ben McClain RBI single, cutting the deficit to just three runs. But it was The Cookie Table bullpen that locked it down the rest of the way with Danny Kirwin shutting down the eighth and Peter Allegro recording the save with a 1-2-3 ninth inning, giving Mahoning Valley the 6-3 win! Thus now bringing the season series win-loss record against West Virginia to 6-8.

Both teams are set to resume action on Wednesday, August 16th for the second game of the series. Catch all Scrappers home games on YSN (ysnlive.com/scrappers), the streaming home for The Mahoning Valley Scrappers!

By Ty Bartell 

NILES OH- For the fourth occasion this season, The Mahoning Valley Scrappers squared-off against The Trenton Thunder in a three game weekend set, starting this past Friday at Eastwood Field. Despite playing in three series previous, The Thunder and Scrappers only played in six of the nine games, with two axed due to weather and one due to the wildfire smoke from Canada. However, in the six prior meetings, Mahoning Valley showed plenty of guts but Trenton had all the glory, to the tune of a perfect 6-0 record against The Scrappers this season.

Despite the lopsided win-loss record, Mahoning Valley has shown their ability to compete with Trenton time and time again. With all the meetings between the two squads being decided by four runs or less this season and that spans across two halves of a season with completely different teams from one half to the other. That goes back to the old adage of “that’s baseball” where the things we marvel at and wonder “how can it be?” when it is just the infinite possibilities the sport brings on any given day.

(FRI)
In the opener on Friday, it appeared as if The Scrappers were putting the one-sided record
to bed, grabbing an early 2-0 advantage over Trenton in the first inning. Thanks to an RBI single by Mason Sykes and an RBI double by Owen Young.
The Thunder wasted little time in forming a response, in the top of the second inning, Craig Corliss delivered a two RBI double, evening the ballgame up 2-2. Trenton’s Dan Covino broke the tie in the top of the fourth when he went big fly for the second time this season, giving the Thunder a 3-2 lead. Anthony Fontana padded the lead with an RBI double in the top of the fifth, making it 4-2 Trenton.

Scrappers got a run closer in the bottom of the eighth when the hot bat of Corey King lined a single up the middle to make it a one run game! But it was not to be, as Enrique Ozoa came in to close things down for The Thunder, giving them the 4-3 win.

(SAT)
In the Saturday matchup, it seemed as if it was going to be an old school pitchers duel,
with both starters in Jonah Hurney (Trenton) and Dylan Sabia (Mahoning Valley) shutting opposing lineups down through the first two innings.

As opposed to the matchup on Friday, The Thunder looked to score first in game two of the series. The top of the third gave them a prime opportunity, with the first three Thunder bats recording base hits to load the bags up with nobody out. Jack Lynch plated one and gave Trenton the initial lead with a fielders choice groundout. But it was the two-out two RBI single from Anthony Fontana that packed a punch, giving Trenton the 3-0 lead.

Scrappers got a run back in the bottom of the fifth after Justin Wiley got a one out bunt single and D’Aries Davis followed him with a walk. Both runners advanced on a passed ball and Wiley scored off an RBI sacrifice fly by Braylin Marine. Both teams would get quiet on offense following the fifth all the way to the eighth, when Trenton scored two runs in the top half of the inning, making it 5-1 Thunder.

Scrappers scored one more in the bottom of the inning as Braylin Marine led off the frame with a double and came home to score off a Mason Sykes RBI single. But The Trenton bullpen, once again, shut things down for four innings following the start from Hurney, as The Thunder used three early runs to give them the 5-2 win.

(SUN)
Sunday was Christmas in July at Eastwood Field, but it was The Thunder that got the
early gifts. A fielding error by Anthonio Fernandez allowed Kolby Johnson to score and Joe Impeduglia followed that up by drawing a bases loaded walk from Trae Robertson to make it 2-0 Trenton early. Impeduglia would go on to add another run to The Thunder lead in the top of the third inning when he slammed one to center, a 400+ foot shot, making it 3-0.

Mahoning Valley would get on the board in the bottom half of the third when, with two on and two out, Owen Young tripled off the wall in left, bringing home two and bringing The Scrappers to within one run of The Thunder 3-2. Trenton would get right back to work on offense, as they led off the top of the fourth inning with an Angel Mendoza double and a Kolby Johnson single, setting up a sacrifice RBI opportunity for Jack Lynch to make it a 4-2 lead.

Bats would go cold on both sides following the fourth inning as the arms were dealing on a Sunday afternoon. With both pitching staff shutting things down the rest of the way, it was Enrique Ozoa that would close it out in the ninth, earning his second save of the series and giving The Thunder a sweep of The Scrappers with the 4-2 win.

As more things change, the more they stay the same. The Thunder improved their record to 9-0 versus The Scrappers this season. With all the games being decided by four runs or fewer in those meetings. Trenton (27-12) will now focus on defending home, as they start a series with The Frederick Keys (19-21) on Tuesday, July 25th. Mahoning Valley (14-25) will hit the road across the state line into West Virginia in a  meeting with The Black Bears (25-14) also starting on Tuesday.

By Ty Bartell 

NILES OH- When it comes to baseball being played at Eastwood Field the past couple of weeks,
mother nature has not been all too kind to Mahoning Valley. Prior to Thursday’s contest between The Scrappers and The Frederick Keys, Mahoning Valley had three of their last nine home games canceled, due to either weather or Canadian wildfire smoke. However, after the cancellation of Wednesday’s game between the two ball clubs, the skies cleared up and the temperature was perfect for some baseball in Northeast Ohio.

Scrappers sent Nathan Medrano to the mound for his first start in The MLB Draft League this year, while The Keys utilized Dalton Ponce, who was given the rock the second time this season. After getting the first out in the top of the first, Frederick had a runner reach on a one out error before three straight singles were rattled off by The Keys, putting them up early 2-0. Medrano would limit the damage, getting the next two outs in the frame while simultaneously stranding a pair of runners in scoring position to end the inning.
Dalton Ponce would make short work of The Scrappers in the bottom of the first, despite allowing a one out base hit to Brad Burkel, Ponce would still strike out the side in the inning with a dominant display of pitching. The second inning saw no offense be put together by either team as both Medrano and Ponce cleared their half inning without a baserunner, sending both lineups down 1-2-3 in the second.

Frederick looked to have a high offensive output for the third inning when Zaid Walker led off the inning with a walk and a steal of second base. Next batter up, Trenton Jamison, would record a base hit to left, but the amazing arm of Travis Moore Jr. said “no runs on my watch” as a gem of a throw from the left fielder erased a run off the board, getting Zaid Walker out at the plate!

The Keys would pick up their change though, as a wild pitch and a passed ball in the inning allowed Jamison to come around to score and up The Frederick lead to now three runs at 3-0.
Both teams would stay quiet offensively the next couple innings to follow, with both Medrano and Ponce dealing on the mound for their respective teams. Scrappers would get one on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Corey King led off the inning with his second hit of the day before a wild pitch got him to second and a stolen base got him to third with less than two outs. Christian Johnson would do his job with the sacrifice fly to center field, scoring King and cutting into the deficit, now a 3-1 Frederick lead.

Despite a one out double by Cameron Butler in the top of the sixth, Nathan Medrano was able to pitch effectively with a runner standing in scoring position by getting a pop out and a strikeout to end the inning and giving Medrano the quality start in the books! Mahoning Valley helped their pitcher out in the bottom of the sixth, as Ponce looked like he was continuing to operate on cruise control, getting the first two outs of the inning with no issue. Then, nine straight balls thrown and three consecutive walks allowed, loaded the bases up with two down for Corey King. For the third straight time in the ballgame, King delivered with a base hit, this time to left field, scoring two and tying the game up 3-3!

Adam Wibert took over for Nathan Medrano in the seventh and he did his job, posting a zero in the inning whilst sending The Keys batters down in order, 1-2-3. Giving The Scrappers a chance to take the lead and they made sure they did just that! A one out Brad Burkel walk would put the go ahead run on for Mason Sykes two batters later with two down. Sykes, who has been a clutch hitting machine as of late, delivered once again with an RBI double to plate Burkel and give Mahoning Valley their first lead 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh!

Despite riding the excitement from having the lead, the game of baseball is quick to remind us that it is a roller coaster ride every time you step between those lines. The next two innings are a perfect example of just that. As the top of the eighth inning is one Scrappers fans and players want to forget rather quickly. Trenton Jamison would single and steal second to start the inning before Taylor Smith brought him home with a base hit, tying the game back up 4-4. Wibert would record the next two outs; Although, Frederick was able to re-capture the lead with the second out of the inning being a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Smith who was on third and putting The Keys back in front 5-4. From that point in the inning, Frederick would see the next nine batters reach base safely, eight of which were on base hits, scoring six runs against two different arms that pitched in the inning for The Scrappers. Sucking the life and energy out of the ballpark that was there the half inning prior, Frederick saw themselves in front 11-4 heading to the bottom of the eight.

Mahoning Valley would get a run back in the eighth inning when David Bermudez hit a one out single, stole second base and came home to score on a RBI single by, who else, but Corey King on his fourth hit of the night! Limiting damage in the inning, Keys pitcher Matthew Maldanado would get out of the eighth, keeping it an 11-5 Frederick advantage.

Trae Robertson took over for The Scrappers in the top of the ninth and would pitch a clean half inning of work, keeping the deficit at six runs heading to the bottom of the ninth inning. With their backs against the wall, needing six runs to defeat The Keys for the first time at Eastwood Field this season, things were looking bleak for that thought to become a reality. However, as Scrappers Manager Dmitri Young would say “There’s 27 outs in this game for a reason. You can’t panic” as Brad Burkel started the bottom of the ninth by reaching off an error by Kirkland Banks. That baserunner opened up the floodgates for The Scrappers!

Mahoning Valley would get two straight singles by TJ Reeves and Mason Sykes to score a run making it 11-6 Frederick and forcing a pitching change from Keys Manager Renee Rivera. Caiden Wood would come out to replace Maldanado on the mound, but The Scrappers picked up where they left off. A base hit by Owen Young and a monster 2 RBI double by Antonio Fernandez had Mahoning Valley on the doorstep of a comeback, now just a 11-8 Frederick lead with The Scrappers having the tying run at the plate and nobody out going forward! Next batter David Bermudez hit an RBI single, putting the tying run on first and making it a two run game. Corey King would get hit by a pitch, reaching safely for his fifth time in the ballgame, and loaded the bases while representing the winning run on first! D’Aires Davis pinch hit earlier in the game but waited till his next at-bat to deliver, as he hit an RBI single making it a slim 11-10 Frederick lead and putting the winning run at second base. Back to the top of the order and Christian Johnson had a chance to be a hero and did he ever put on that cape proudly. Depositing a base hit to center, scoring two, bringing home RBI number two and three on the day and walking off the game a 12-11 winner in one of the most improbable comebacks you could ever see, ending the game with a Mahoning Valley mob scene at second base!

Both teams are back in action on Friday with Frederick (15-16) hitting the road to The Keystone State where they will take on The State College Spikes (14-19). As for The Scrappers (13-19) they hope to build off this victory as they will take on first half champions, The Trenton Thunder (21-10) in New Jersey on Friday night. Mahoning Valley returns to Eastwood Field again on Friday, July 21st where they will host a three game weekend series against Trenton. Come out and enjoy the festivities as the 21st is Pittsburgh Pirates night in the ballpark with post game fireworks to follow! Of course, if you cannot make it out, we got you covered! Find all

Scrappers home games on YSN, your streaming home for Mahoning Valley Scrappers Baseball! (ysnlive.com/scrappers)

By Ty Bartell

Following the ballgame on Tuesday night, The Frederick Keys sat with a 2-0 series lead in the three game series against The Mahoning Valley Scrappers, setting up an interesting game three. With The Scrappers trying to salvage the final game of the home-series to get back to .500 on the year, while The Keys looked for the all-important road sweep early in the season. 

Noah Matheny tossed the rock on the mound for Mahoning Valley, while Ben Vespi was called up to start the final game of the series for The Keys. Kendry Maduro introduced himself and his offensive capabilities to another arm for The Scrappers when he laced an RBI-single to left, scoring Tervell Johson and giving Frederick an early 1-0 lead. Mahoning Valley would respond in the bottom half of the inning when Prince DeBoskie lined a triple up the first base line and all the way to the wall before coming home to score courtesy of a wild pitch by Vespi to even the game 1-1. 

Two innings later and The Scrappers would taste the lead for the first time when, one of the top bats in all of The MLB Draft League so far this season, Colton Coates came through with a two-out RBI-single to score Ny’Zaiah Thompson and put Mahoning Valley up 2-1. Frederick had a response ready the next half inning, when the top of the fourth rolled around and Jordan Hamberg found a meaty pitch and demolished a two-run shot to right-center making it 3-2 Keys. The back-and-forth game would continue in the bottom of the fourth when Braeden O’Shaughnessy hit a double and advanced to third, then eventually home off wild pitches from new Frederick Pitcher Jayden Martin, who came on in relief in the fourth. 

With the game knotted up 3-3, The Scrappers would deal a big blow to Frederick in the bottom of the fifth. That man, Colton Coates delivered once again! This time, a two RBI-double that went to the gap in right! Mahoning Valley would then load the bases with nobody out to chase Keys pitcher Jayden Martin after the first six batters all reached in the inning. Frederick called upon the hometown kid Jack Maruskin to try and limit any further damage with the bags full. After Maruskin struck out Connor Capece, Jordan Williams hit a broken bat single just over the third baseman Luca Danos’ glove to add a run to The Scrappers lead now 6-3. However, Maruskin would strike out the next two Mahoning Valley bats in order to get out of the frame. 

After going five innings with the lead, the dice were rolled on Noah Matheny giving The Scrappers a sixth inning of work on the mound. The Keys quickly made Mahoning Valley rethink the decision when Jordan Hamberg hit a one out triple and Luca Danos was hit by a pitch before The Sanders came through for Frederick! Both Logan Sanders and Marcus Sanders hit back-to-back RBI-singles to tighten the gap, trimming The Scrappers lead to just a single run at 6-5. Zane Barnhart was then called to replace Matheny and preserve the lead for Mahoning Valley which he accomplished by getting the next two on a popup and a fielder’s choice.

Like deja-vu, the top of the seventh started similar to the top of the sixth with Frederick hitting a big time one out triple, this time by Kendry Maduro who eventually scored off a dropped ball by right fielder Jack Moss on a shallow fly ball by Jacob McKeon to tie the game back up at six runs a piece. The two teams would exchange zeros on the scoreboard all the way to the ninth inning with the game tied up 6-6. 

Cameron Liss came on to pitch for Mahoning Valley in the top of the ninth, replacing Barnhart on the mound. After getting a big strike out of big-time hitter, Tervell Johnson to start the game, things were looking good for The Scrappers. However, the next batter up, Jevin Relaford was hit by a pitch and stole second base before that man, Kendry Maduro did it again! Lining the clutch, late-game, RBI-double down the left field line to put Frederick up 7-6 late. Derek Bolander was then called out of the pen, in which he struck out the next two batters for The Keys to get Mahoning Valley out of the inning. Lucas Hartman, who came on to pitch originally in the bottom of the seventh for The Keys, stayed on for the ninth to attempt to close the victory out. Striking out Prince DeBoskie to start the bottom of the ninth, Hartman would then walk Colton Coates to put the tying run on first. But that would be all that The Scrappers could muster up, as the next two batters were sent down on a fly out and a pop out, thus ending the game and sealing the road sweep for The Keys 7-6. 

Both teams are off on Thursday before resuming action on Friday night. Frederick (7-5) will return home to face The State College Spikes (6-5), while The Mahoning Valley Scrappers (5-7) will stay home to start a three game weekend set with The Williamsport Crosscutters (4-8) with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch start time on Friday! Trouble making it to the game? No worries, we got you covered! Check out all Scrappers home games on YSN!