WILLIAMSPORT AVOIDS SCRAPPERS SWEEP
NILES OH- After claiming victory in the first two games of the series, The Mahoning Valley Scrappers and The Williamsport Crosscutters met on the diamond for a Father’s Day edition of MLB Draft League baseball on Sunday afternoon! With Mahoning Valley looking to break out the brooms and Williamsport trying to get back in the win column.
Pitching and defense took precedence early on as both teams struggled to score with runners on. As Drew Bryan (Crosscutters) and Cale Lansville (Scrappers) were dealing on the mound, exchanging zeros the first three innings of the game. Lansville continued his day into the fourth inning and pitched another clean frame, keeping it Scoreless heading to the bottom of the fourth inning. With Bryan on to continue his outing into the fourth, The Scrappers struck first after back-to-back two out errors put both Mason Sykes and Jack Moss on before Braeden O’Shaughnessy lined an RBI-single to center, giving Mahoning Valley an early 1-0 lead!
Elijah Pleasants would then take over on the rubber for The Scrappers, pitching around a walk in the fifth to keep Mahoning Valley in front. The Scrappers would add to their lead in the bottom half of the fifth when Jordan Williams worked a one out walk and stole second before a base hot from Trenton Harris moved him over and an RBI-single from Colton Coates moved him in! With Harris now at third, The Scrappers added on more on a sac-fly by Brandon Hylton, making it 3-0 Mahoning Valley.
However, in the top of the sixth inning, The Crosscutters started cutting into The Scrappers lead. Staring with a one out hit batter in Sean Smith who ended up at second following a stolen base before he came home on a Stephen Hrustich RBI-single to center. Not done there, Williamsport would get another run when Jack Oberdorf would hit a single to move Hrustich over and Nate LaRue recorded his third hit of the day as an RBI-single making it a one run game! It did not stay a one run game for long though, following another walk in the inning, Mahoning Valley made the change for Charez Butcher in place of Pleasants on the hill. Butcher would toss a wild pitch to the first batter he faced, scoring Jack Oberdorf from third and tying the game at three runs a piece!
It then became a pitching battle with neither team giving an inch on offense, posting consecutive zeros all the way until the ninth inning. With the hard-throwing Andrew Lucas coming on the mound for Mahoning Valley in the ninth, The Scrappers looked for a shutdown inning to have the opportunity to walk it off. With their backs against the walls, Williamsport got the lead off runner on with Nate LaRue walking and reaching for his fourth time in the ballgame! Lucas would retire the next two batters in order before Ryan Vogel, with ice running through his veins, lined a two out RBI-double to right field, giving The Crosscutters their first lead of the series 4-3 in the ninth! Will Schomberg, who pitched the eighth, stayed on to pitch the bottom of the ninth for Williamsport. The Scrappers would go quietly, as Schomberg sent them down 1-2-3 to salvage the third game of the series and get Williamsport back in the win column!
Both Mahoning Valley and Williamsport have an off day on Monday before returning to action Tuesday night! With The Crosscutters (5-10) hosting in the red hot Frederick Keys (10-5). While The Scrappers (7-8) will hit the road to take on The Trenton Thunder (9-6). Scrappers will return home on Tuesday, June 27th to start a home series with The Thunder. Don’t forget, all Scrappers home games are streamed live on YSN!
