Saturday, June 28, 2003
The Muckdogs snapped a four-game losing streak to the Scrappers with a 10-9 victory.
By BRIAN RICHESSON
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- "Bus leaves at 12:30!"
Welcome to minor league baseball, in which a six-hour bus ride across New York in the wee hours of the morning stares you in the face.
Welcome to minor league baseball, in which that bus ride happens after a four-hour, 11-inning game the previous night that doesn't end until 11:14 p.m.
And your team lost.
Clubhouse chatter
"Bus leaves at 12:30!" Those were the commanding words shouted throughout the Mahoning Valley Scrappers' clubhouse Tuesday night at Cafaro Field.
"I have trouble sleeping on the bus," Scrappers infielder Anthony Lunetta said. "I'm gonna have to take some NyQuil or something."
The Scrappers had just endured a see-saw battle against Batavia, whose 10-9 victory ended a four-game losing streak against the Cleveland Indians' Class-A affiliate.
"We've had their number so far," Scrappers catcher Javier Herrera said. "They're bound to get you. They came back and got us tonight."
In a game that featured 19 runs and 33 hits, the winning score came across on an infield roller by Alex Borgo deep into the hole at shortstop.
The Scrappers (5-3), however, were trying to forget about the loss and look ahead to a three-game series beginning tonight against the Hudson Valley Renegades.
"We're going to have to suck it up, go out there and play," said Lunetta, a first-year player from USC. "This is our job. This is what we're here to do. So we're going to go out and give it our best tomorrow."
Wacky play
Staying consistent with the game's unusual events, the Scrappers had a run taken off the board in the fifth inning.
Ceasar Suarez stole third base and sprinted home when Batavia catcher Jose Cortez threw the ball into left field.
Trouble was, Suarez forgot to touch home plate, umpire Wade Page ruled. That run would have tied the score 9-9 and kept the inning alive, but Batavia successfully appealed the play at home.
"For an umpire to make that kind of call in that situation is tragic, just because an umpire shouldn't have an effect on the game," Lunetta said.
The next batter in the lineup, Lunetta was outside the batter's box when the Muckdogs appealed for the third out.
"I was actually giving him [Suarez] five, looking right at his face," Lunetta said. "The plate's pretty big. I don't know how you miss it when you're running home."
Suarez's night didn't get any better. In his next at-bat, in the seventh, the 19-year-old native of Venezuela was called out at first for batter's interference.
By then, however, Suarez was off the hook because Herrera had tied the score 9-9 an inning earlier on an RBI single.
Extra innings
The Scrappers seemed to have the advantage in the 10th with Eric Johnson, the New York-Penn League's steals leader, on base. Johnson stole second and third, but he was stranded there.
In the 11th, Herrera sent a drive to the left-field warning track, but Borgo camped under it for the second out.
"He jammed me a little bit, so I never thought it was going to go out," Herrera said. "But it ended up traveling to the wall."
Jesus Colmenter was Mahoning Valley's last hope in the 11th, reaching on an error with two outs, but Mike Conroy flied out to left field to end the game.
Mahoning Valley players then gathered in the clubhouse for a quick meal before heading to the bus.
"This will be a first for me," Lunetta said of the unusual travel schedule. "Playing a game all night, traveling the same night and playing the next day. There was never anything like that in college. This is get up and go all the time."
BATAVIAMAHONING VALLEY
abrhbiabrhbi
Headley cf4121Johnson cf5011
Tugwell 2b6110Lunetta ss6120
Hansen dh6122Mulhern dh5221
Brunick 1b5231Kouzmnoff 3b6220
Blalock 3b5221Herrera c5222
Cortez c5021Colmenter 1b5111
Borgo lf4111Conroy lf5112
Brito rf5110Goleski rf5021
DLSantos ss5141Suarez 2b5021
Totals4510188Totals479159
Batavia03132000001--0
Mahoning Valley00620100x00--0
E--Johnson, Davis, De Los Santos, Borgo. DP--Mahoning Valley 4. LOB--Mahoning Valley 10, Batavia 10. 2B--Blalock 2, Mulhern, Hansen, Brunick, Herrera, Kouzmanoff. SB--Johnson 3, Headley, Suarez, Brunick, Colmenter, Borgo. CS--De Los Santos, Cortez. SH--Blalock.
IPHRERBBSO
Batavia
DeChristofaro2 1-376634
Libey1 2-332210
Hodges351101
Diefenderfer W, 2-1400016
Mahoning Valley
Burton3 2-3117720
Pereyra2 1-342125
Wallace210003
White210014
Davis L, 0-1111011
PB--Herrera, Cortez. WP--Burton 2, Libey. HBP--by Burton (Headley). Umpires--Wade Page, home; Alan Porter, bases. T--4:09. A--3,059.
HOW THEY SCORED
SECOND INNING
BATAVIA 3, MAHONING VALLEY 0
Muckdogs: T.J. Burton pitching. Joe Brunick singled to left, Jake Blalock doubled to left, Brunick scored. Blalock advanced to third on a passed ball. Jose Cortez flied out to second. Alex Borgo walked. Blalock scored on a wild pitch, Borgo to second. Henry Brito grounded out to short. Borgo advanced to third on a wild pitch. Esteban De Los Santos singled to right, Borgo scored. Jack Headley walked, De Los Santos to second. Marc Tugwell grounded out to short. 3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left.
THIRD INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 6, BATAVIA 4
Muckdogs: Burton pitching. Bryan Hansen singled to right, Brunick lined out to second, Hansen picked off first for a double play. Blalock doubled to left, Cortez singled to left, Blalock scored. Borgo flied out to center. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 left.
Scrappers: Vincent DeChristofaro pitching. Anthony Lunetta singled to center, Ryan Mulhern doubled to right center, Lunetta scored. Kevin Kouzmanoff singled to right, Mulhern to third. Javier Herrera walked to load the bases, Kouzmanoff to second. Jesus Colmenter walked, Mulhern scored, Kouzmanoff to third, Herrera to second. Mike Conroy walked, Kouzmanoff scored, Herrera to third, Colmenter to second. Ryan Goleski grounded out to short, Herrera scored, Colmenter to third, Conroy to second. Justin Libey pitching. Ceasar Suarez grounded out to third, Colmenter scored. Eric Johnson singled to right, Conroy scored. Johnson stole second. Lunetta grounded out to short. 6 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left.
FOURTH INNING
MAHONING VALLEY 8, BATAVIA 7
Muckdogs: Burton pitching. Brito grounded out back to the pitcher. De Los Santos singled to right, caught stealing second. Headley was hit by pitch, stole second. Tugwell singled in the infield, Headley to third. Hansen doubled to right, Headley, Tugwell scored. Brunick doubled to right, Hansen scored. Honeudis Pereyra pitching. Blalock struck out. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 left.
Scrappers: Libey pitching. Mulhern walked, Kouzmanoff flied out to center. Mulhern advanced to second on a wild pitch. Herrera doubled to left, Mulhern scored. Colmenter flied out to left. Conroy singled to center, Herrera scored, Conroy tagged out in rundown between first and second. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 left.
FIFTH INNING
BATAVIA 9, MAHONING VALLEY 8
Muckdogs: Pereyra pitching. Cortez singled in the infield, Borgo struck out. Cortez was caught stealing second. Brito walked, De Los Santos singled to left, Brito to second. Headley singled to center, Brito scored. De Los Santos scores on an error by the center fielder. Tugwell struck out. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 left.
SIXTH INNING
BATAVIA 9, MAHONING VALLEY 9
Scrappers: Daniel Hodges pitching. Lunetta struck out. Mulhern lined out to second. Kouzmanoff doubled down the right-field line, Herrera singled to left, Kouzmanoff scored, Herrera to second on an error by the left-fielder. Colmenter singled in the infield, Herrera to third. Colmenter stole second. Conroy grounded out to second. 1 run, 3 hits, 1 error, 2 left.
11TH INNING
BATAVIA 10, MAHONING VALLEY 9
Muckdogs: Matt Davis pitching. Brunick walked, Blalock bunted to sacrifice Brunick to second, Blalock safe at first on an error by the pitcher. Cortez hit into a double play, Blalock out at second, Cortez out at first, Brunick to third. Borgo singled in the infield, Brunick scored. Borgo stole second. Brito struck out. 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 left.
richesson@vindy.com