SPORTS	Vindy Basic

Mahoning Valley rallied from a 7-0 deficit and loaded the bases in the last inning.

By BILL SULLIVAN

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

NILES — The sky was gorgeous with distinct gray cumulus clouds punctuating the vivid blue backdrop.

The flag, which hung at half mast in respect to former President Ronald Reagan, blew slightly out toward right.

The temperature at Eastwood Field reached 70 degrees for the Father's Day crowd of 3,641 to enjoy the New York-Penn League game in shirtsleeves.

The only thing missing Sunday afternoon was great pitching by the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

The Auburn Doubledays rode an impressive pitching performance to an 8-5 win over the Scrappers.

The story of the game is told in comparing the two starting pitchers.

Pitching is big factor

Casey McKenzie yielded just one base runner in the first four innings and left the game with the Doubledays (1-2) leading 6-0.

In contrast, Scrapper starter Matt Haynes gave up three runs, three hits and hit a batter in his first inning alone.

"Their starter had good command of all his pitches," Mahoning Valley (2-1) Manager Mike Sarbaugh said. "He kept the ball down and he got ahead of us. Our hitters weren't very aggressive."

McKenzie was lifted after four innings due to a high pitch count. Haynes was gone after two.

"Haynes is a young kid, his first time out," Sarbaugh said. "Sometimes you're going to expect that. He had some jitters.

"He came back that second inning and threw a very good inning. The second inning is something he can build off of. Somedays you're going to have that; you got to fight through it."

Last of the ninth

While the Scrappers fell behind 7-0 in the sixth, there was still drama in the last of the ninth inning.

Outfielder Teo Encarnacion, who was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, came to the plate with the bases loaded and two out with his team trailing 8-5.

Somewhere a fan whispered that the only thing separating Encarnacion from the status of an instant legend was a grand slam.

After fighting off a few pitches, Encarnacion flew out to medium center field to end the game.

"I swung at a bad pitch," he said while autographing a variety of items for anxious fans waiting by the fence. "He threw me bad pitches. I need to swing at a good pitch, not at a bad pitch."

Sarbaugh liked situation

Sarbaugh said he was happy to see Encarnacion come up to bat with the outcome very much on the line.

"We were feeling good about him being up. The guy caught him off balance," Sarbaugh said. "He can build off that on a personal standpoint."

Argenis Reyes also had two singles in a nine-hit attack, including a base knock in the ninth inning.

"In the ninth, we got some guys on base and I felt like we were still in the game," Sarbaugh said.

Sullivan@vindy.com

AUBURN MAHONING VALLEY

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Mathews cf 5 2 2 0 Reyes 2b 5 1 2 0

Armstrong ss 4 0 0 0 Clem 3b 4 1 0 0

Esposito 3b 4 1 2 1 Parker dh 5 0 1 0

Acey 2b 4 2 2 0 Butia lf 4 2 1 0

Metropoulos dh 4 2 2 1 Encarnacion rf 5 1 3 2

Kratz c 5 0 1 2 Finegan ss 3 0 1 0

Mangioni rf 4 0 1 0 Pacheco 1b 4 0 1 3

Nielsen lf 4 1 2 2 Cruz cf 4 0 1 0

Hicks 1b 4 0 2 0 Toregas c 2 0 0 0

Castillas c 2 0 0 0

Totals 38 8 14 6 Totals 38 5 10 5

Auburn 302 101 001 — 8

Mahoning Valley 000 004 010 — 5

E—Day. DP—Scrappers 2. LOB—Doubledays 11, Scrappers 9. 2B—Acey, Kratz 1. 3B—Mathews. HR—Nielsen. SB—Armstrong. CS—Nielsen.

IP H R ER BB SO

Auburn

McKenzie 4 1 0 0 0 6

Neylan, W 1-0 1.1 2 3 3 2 1

Dalton 2 5 2 2 0 0

Rico .2 0 0 0 0 0

Day, S 1 1 2 0 0 0 1

Mahoning Valley

Haynes, L 0-1 2 3 3 3 2 1

Santana 2 4 3 3 2 1

Harris 1.1 3 1 0 2 1

Pennington 1.2 1 0 0 1 1

Southerland 2 3 1 1 0 0

WP—Neylan, Santana. HBP—by Haynes (Mangioni); by Neylan (Butia). PB—Toregas. Umpires—Home, Victor Carapazza; Second, Tom Clarke. T—3:07. A—3,641.