Combined with an Auburn loss, the Scrappers pull to within 11/2 games of the first-place Doubledays.
By STEVE RUMAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NILES — As Matt Brown was making his way back to the clubhouse following Friday's game between Mahoning Valley and Williamsport, the Scrappers' right fielder was singled out by a young fan.
"You're the star," the admirer shouted.
Brown smiled, shrugged off the comment, then insisted that there were no individual superstars on his club.
Brown might be on to something. However, there is no denying that at least for one night, he had to accept at least a share of the spotlight.
On a night when the Scrappers struggled offensively, Brown delivered with a fifth-inning two-out base hit to give the Scrappers their only runs in a 2-1 win over the Crosscutters.
Attendance
The home win, played in front of 4,735 fans at Eastwood Field, extended the Scrappers' (23-20) winning streak to a season-high six games. The victory, combined with an Auburn loss to State College, pulls the Scrappers to within 11/2 games of the first-place Doubledays in the Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League.
"This is a team full of clutch players," Brown said. "It seems like a different guy is stepping up and delivering a big hit or throwing a big pitch every night. That's why we're playing so well right now. I'm just glad I was able to contribute."
Once Brown showed what he could do for the Scrappers, the rest of the night belonged to the bullpen. Garrett Rieck and Kyle Landis combined to work the final four innings. The pair of relievers shut out Williamsport (18-26) while giving up just two hits.
During the Scrappers' six-game winning streak, their bullpen has given up just two earned runs in 232/3 innings. The relievers haven't allowed an earned run in their last 21 innings of work.
"That's just clutch," Brown said. "They've been put in some tough situations all year long, and they always come through. When you only score two runs, it takes a lot of tough pitching to be able to walk away with a win."
Crosscutters score early
Just as they did in the opening game of the series, the Crosscutters scored the first run of the game early on. Matt Spencer led off the top of the second inning by belting his third home run of the season, a towering blast that cleared the right field bullpen.
However, the light-hitting Crosscutters — they entered the contest batting a league-low .222 as a team — were shut down from that point on.
In the fifth, the Scrappers' offense was aided by a bit of wildness from Crosscutters pitcher Drew Naylor. After Jeff Hehr led off the frame with a single, Adam White struck out for the third time in the game. However, Mark Thompson and Todd Martin were both hit by pitches, setting up Brown's heroics.
Brown ripped a line drive to left which fell in front of Williamsport outfielder Matt Spencer. Brown was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double, but not before two runs crossed the plate.
Ouch!
Crosscutters starter Drew Naylor hit three batters on the night, while Scrappers starter Kelvin De La Cruz hit a batter. Both pitchers were warned in the top of the third inning, but no action was taken when Naylor hit the pair of batters in the fifth.
De La Cruz (1-1) scattered one run on four hits while working five innings to pick up his first win of the season.
After the Crosscutters got a man on third base with one out in the eighth, Landis came in to record back-to-back strikeouts. In the ninth, the Crosscutters put the tying run on second before Landis struck out Phillip Cuevas to end the game.
"You can just feel the energy and see the excitement in the clubhouse right now," said Scrappers manager Tim Laker. "These kids are having a lot of fun, and they really believe in themselves."
"We're about half way into the season, and it seems as though all of that nervousness and all of the jitters from experiencing pro ball for the first time is gone for a lot of these guys. Now, they're just having fun playing the game."
———
WILLIAMSPORT SCRAPPERS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Myers cf 4 0 0 0 White cf 4 0 1 0
Brown rf 4 0 2 0 Thompson ss 3 0 0 0
Mach 2b 4 0 2 0 Infante 3b 4 1 1 0
Spencer lf 4 1 1 1 Martin dh 3 0 2 0
Rizzotti dh 4 0 0 0 Brown rf 4 0 1 2
Kennelly 1b 4 0 0 0 Petrucci lf 4 0 0 0
Penprase 3b 2 0 0 0 Realini 1b 1 0 1 0
Durant ph 0 0 0 0 Valadez c 3 0 0 0
Mitchell pr 0 0 0 0 Hehr 2b 3 1 1 0
Mangum c 3 0 2 0
Bacsu pr 0 0 0 0
Cuevas ss 3 0 0 0
Sorgi ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 33 1 7 1 Totals 29 2 7 2
Williamsport 010 000 000 — 1
Scrappers 000 020 00x — 2
DP—Williamsport 1. LOB—Williamsport 8, Scrappers 7. HR—Spencer (3). SB—White (10). CS—Brown (4).
IP H R ER BB SO
Williamsport
Naylor L, 5-4 7 7 2 2 1 7
Dumont 1 0 0 0 0 0
Scrappers
De La Cruz W, 1-1 5 4 1 1 2 4
Rieck 2 1-3 2 0 0 0 3
Landis S, 5 1 2-3 1 0 0 1 4
PB—Valadez. WP—Landis. HBP—by Naylor (Realini), by Naylor (Thompson), by Naylor (Martin). Umpires—Home, Justin Sassaman; Bases, Ross Nickel. T—2:23. A—4,735.
HOW THEY SCORED
Williamsport 2nd — Matt Spencer homered to right field. Matt Rizzotti struck out swinging. Tim Kennelly lined out to third. Zach Penprase walked. Caleb Mangum singled to left, Penprase advanced to second. Phillip Cuevas hit into fielders choice, Mangum was forced out at second 6-U. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB
Scrappers 5th — Jeff Hehr singled to left. Adam White struck out swinging. Mark Thompson was hit by a pitch, Hehr advanced to second. Jansy Infante reached on a fielders choice, Thompson was forced out at second 6-4, Hehr advanced to third. Todd Martin was hit by a pitch, Infante advanced to second. Matt Brown singled to left, Hehr and Infante scored, Martin advanced to third, Brown was thrown out at second on the play 7-4. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Combined with an Auburn loss, the Scrappers pull to within 11/2 games of the first-place Doubledays.
By STEVE RUMAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NILES — As Matt Brown was making his way back to the clubhouse following Friday's game between Mahoning Valley and Williamsport, the Scrappers' right fielder was singled out by a young fan.
"You're the star," the admirer shouted.
Brown smiled, shrugged off the comment, then insisted that there were no individual superstars on his club.
Brown might be on to something. However, there is no denying that at least for one night, he had to accept at least a share of the spotlight.
On a night when the Scrappers struggled offensively, Brown delivered with a fifth-inning two-out base hit to give the Scrappers their only runs in a 2-1 win over the Crosscutters.
Attendance
The home win, played in front of 4,735 fans at Eastwood Field, extended the Scrappers' (23-20) winning streak to a season-high six games. The victory, combined with an Auburn loss to State College, pulls the Scrappers to within 11/2 games of the first-place Doubledays in the Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League.
"This is a team full of clutch players," Brown said. "It seems like a different guy is stepping up and delivering a big hit or throwing a big pitch every night. That's why we're playing so well right now. I'm just glad I was able to contribute."
Once Brown showed what he could do for the Scrappers, the rest of the night belonged to the bullpen. Garrett Rieck and Kyle Landis combined to work the final four innings. The pair of relievers shut out Williamsport (18-26) while giving up just two hits.
During the Scrappers' six-game winning streak, their bullpen has given up just two earned runs in 232/3 innings. The relievers haven't allowed an earned run in their last 21 innings of work.
"That's just clutch," Brown said. "They've been put in some tough situations all year long, and they always come through. When you only score two runs, it takes a lot of tough pitching to be able to walk away with a win."
Crosscutters score early
Just as they did in the opening game of the series, the Crosscutters scored the first run of the game early on. Matt Spencer led off the top of the second inning by belting his third home run of the season, a towering blast that cleared the right field bullpen.
However, the light-hitting Crosscutters — they entered the contest batting a league-low .222 as a team — were shut down from that point on.
In the fifth, the Scrappers' offense was aided by a bit of wildness from Crosscutters pitcher Drew Naylor. After Jeff Hehr led off the frame with a single, Adam White struck out for the third time in the game. However, Mark Thompson and Todd Martin were both hit by pitches, setting up Brown's heroics.
Brown ripped a line drive to left which fell in front of Williamsport outfielder Matt Spencer. Brown was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double, but not before two runs crossed the plate.
Ouch!
Crosscutters starter Drew Naylor hit three batters on the night, while Scrappers starter Kelvin De La Cruz hit a batter. Both pitchers were warned in the top of the third inning, but no action was taken when Naylor hit the pair of batters in the fifth.
De La Cruz (1-1) scattered one run on four hits while working five innings to pick up his first win of the season.
After the Crosscutters got a man on third base with one out in the eighth, Landis came in to record back-to-back strikeouts. In the ninth, the Crosscutters put the tying run on second before Landis struck out Phillip Cuevas to end the game.
"You can just feel the energy and see the excitement in the clubhouse right now," said Scrappers manager Tim Laker. "These kids are having a lot of fun, and they really believe in themselves."
"We're about half way into the season, and it seems as though all of that nervousness and all of the jitters from experiencing pro ball for the first time is gone for a lot of these guys. Now, they're just having fun playing the game."
———
WILLIAMSPORT SCRAPPERS
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Myers cf 4 0 0 0 White cf 4 0 1 0
Brown rf 4 0 2 0 Thompson ss 3 0 0 0
Mach 2b 4 0 2 0 Infante 3b 4 1 1 0
Spencer lf 4 1 1 1 Martin dh 3 0 2 0
Rizzotti dh 4 0 0 0 Brown rf 4 0 1 2
Kennelly 1b 4 0 0 0 Petrucci lf 4 0 0 0
Penprase 3b 2 0 0 0 Realini 1b 1 0 1 0
Durant ph 0 0 0 0 Valadez c 3 0 0 0
Mitchell pr 0 0 0 0 Hehr 2b 3 1 1 0
Mangum c 3 0 2 0
Bacsu pr 0 0 0 0
Cuevas ss 3 0 0 0
Sorgi ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 33 1 7 1 Totals 29 2 7 2
Williamsport 010 000 000 — 1
Scrappers 000 020 00x — 2
DP—Williamsport 1. LOB—Williamsport 8, Scrappers 7. HR—Spencer (3). SB—White (10). CS—Brown (4).
IP H R ER BB SO
Williamsport
Naylor L, 5-4 7 7 2 2 1 7
Dumont 1 0 0 0 0 0
Scrappers
De La Cruz W, 1-1 5 4 1 1 2 4
Rieck 2 1-3 2 0 0 0 3
Landis S, 5 1 2-3 1 0 0 1 4
PB—Valadez. WP—Landis. HBP—by Naylor (Realini), by Naylor (Thompson), by Naylor (Martin). Umpires—Home, Justin Sassaman; Bases, Ross Nickel. T—2:23. A—4,735.
HOW THEY SCORED
Williamsport 2nd — Matt Spencer homered to right field. Matt Rizzotti struck out swinging. Tim Kennelly lined out to third. Zach Penprase walked. Caleb Mangum singled to left, Penprase advanced to second. Phillip Cuevas hit into fielders choice, Mangum was forced out at second 6-U. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB
Scrappers 5th — Jeff Hehr singled to left. Adam White struck out swinging. Mark Thompson was hit by a pitch, Hehr advanced to second. Jansy Infante reached on a fielders choice, Thompson was forced out at second 6-4, Hehr advanced to third. Todd Martin was hit by a pitch, Infante advanced to second. Matt Brown singled to left, Hehr and Infante scored, Martin advanced to third, Brown was thrown out at second on the play 7-4. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB
Saturday, August 4, 2007
As Matt Brown was making his way back to the clubhouse following Friday's game between Mahoning Valley and Williamsport,...
