Scrappers return to action

Mahoning Valley won its season opener Tuesday at Batavia, 5-1.
& lt;a href=mailto:richesson@vindy.com & gt;By BRIAN RICHESSON & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Ted Kubiak never questioned the maturity of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. They grew up fast Tuesday night.
If season openers are any indication of the future, the Cleveland Indians should be happy with their 2003 draft class.
Riding the right arm of a veteran pitcher, the Scrappers' youthful talent blended in perfectly, leading to a 5-1 victory over the Batavia Muckdogs at Dwyer Stadium.
"All these draftees who have come in here are very workmanlike," said Kubiak, back with the Scrappers after managing them to Pinckney Division titles in the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
"They know what they're doing and they're pretty smart," he added. "It's been impressive."
Blanking Batavia
Scrappers pitcher Chad Durbin threw seven shutout innings, and the Scrappers followed with timely RBI hits to win the New York-Penn League opener.
If 1,200 fans were capable of creating a home-field advantage for the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate, Durbin never gave them that chance.
"He's definitely above this level. He's just trying to come back, and he knows how to pitch," Kubiak said.
After allowing a double on his first pitch of the game and hitting the second batter, Durbin, the former Kansas City Royals pitcher working his way back from elbow surgery, shut down Batavia batters, limiting them to one hit.
"The motion on his changeup is excellent. It's got to be tough on young hitters," Kubiak said. "Breaking balls and changeups give everybody fits in this league."
Honeudis Pereyra pitched the final two innings for the Scrappers, but he couldn't preserve the shutout.
"I was just impressed with the way they all played, the way they handled themselves," Kubiak said.
Pitchers' duel
Through the first three innings, Durbin was locked in a pitchers' duel with Batavia right-hander Darin Naatjes, whose height (6-foot-7) seemed to intimidate Scrappers batters.
Not in the fourth inning. RBI singles by Kevin Kouzmanoff and Mike Conroy, and a sacrifice fly by Javier Herrera, produced a 3-0 lead.
"How many times do you get base hits with guys on base?" Kubiak said. "It's tough to do sometimes, but hopefully it will keep continuing."
Herrera, the former member of the Astro Falcons summer team, added his second RBI on a single in the fourth for a 4-0 lead, and later drew high praise from Kubiak.
"Javier is unbelievable behind the plate," Kubiak said. "He's the best catcher we have in this organization. It's hard to say that after one game, but he called a great game."
Off and running
Of the Scrappers' nine hits, six came off the bats of players who were drafted by the Indians earlier this month. Leading the way were Ryan Goleski, a rookie from Eastern Michigan, and Ceasar Suarez, with two hits each.
"The big thing was to keep things simple, take the same approach that you have throughout your whole college career," Goleski said.
Scrappers coaches made sure to retain balls of players who got their first professional hit.
"Pro ball seems more time consuming," Goleski said, "but I enjoy being at the ballpark, I enjoy going through a routine. The most interesting thing is that you learn and you get better."
MAHONING VALLEYBATAVIA
abrhbiabrhbi
Johnson cf4100Tugwell 2b4010
Luneta 2b3110Bramasco 3b2100
Mulhern dh4110Hansen 1b4011
Kouzmanoff 3b4111Brunick dh3000
Herrera c3012Blalock lf3000
Goleski rf4120Foust rf3010
Conroy lf4011Cortez c3000
Parker ss4000DL Santos ss2000
Suarez 1b4021Brito cf3000
Totals34595Totals27131
Mahoning Valley000310010--5
Batavia000000001--1
E--Hodges. DP--Mahoning Valley 2. LOB--Mahoning Valley 8, Batavia 3. 2B--Tugwell. SB--Johnson. CS--Brunick, Suarez. SF--Herrera.
IPHRERBBSO
Mahoning Valley
Durbin710013
Pereyra221102
Batavia
Naatjes443314
Urrutia111110
Hodges220003
McConnell221102
HBP--Mulhern (by Naatjes), Bramasco (by Durbin, by Pereyra), De Los Santos (by Durbin), Johnson (by Urrutia), Kouzmanoff (by Urrutia). WP--Naatjes, McConnell. Umpires--Mark Lollo, home; Clinton Mahan, bases. T--2:23. A--1,265.
HOW THEY SCORED
FOURTH INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 3, BATAVIA 0
Scrappers: Darin Naatjes pitching. Anthony Luneta walked, Ryan Mulhern singled to right, Luneta to second. Kevin Kouzmanoff singled to right, Luneta scored, Mulhern to third. Javier Herrera hit a sacrifice fly to right, Mulhern scored. Kouzmanoff to second on wild pitch. Ryan Goleski singled to right, Kouzmanoff to third. Mike Conroy singled to right, Kouzmanoff scored, Goleski to third. Brett Parker hit into a fielder's choice, Goleski out at home, Conroy to second. Ceasar Suarez flied out to right. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 2 left.
FIFTH INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 4, BATAVIA 0
Scrappers: Carlos Urrutia pitching. Eric Johnson hit by pitch, stole second. Luneta walked, Mulhern flied out to right. Kouzmanoff hit by pitch to load the bases. Herrera singled to left, Johnson scored, Luneta thrown out at home, Kouzmanoff to third, Herrera to second. Goleski grounded out to third. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 2 left.
EIGHTH INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 5, BATAVIA 0
Scrappers: Caleb McConnell pitching. Goleski singled to left, Conroy grounded out to short, Goleski to second. Parker struck out. Suarez singled to center, Goleski scored. Johnson flied out to first. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left.
NINTH INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 5, BATAVIA 1
Muckdogs: Henry Brito flied out to second. Marc Tugwell flied out to third. Omar Bramasco hit by pitch, Bryan Hansen singled to center, Bramasco scored. Joe Brunick grounded out to second. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left.
& lt;a href=mailto:richesson@vindy.com & gt;richesson@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;