Cutters put 'E' in defeat

The Scrappers benefited from seven Crosscutter errors and 10 walks.
NILES -- With the two hottest teams in the New York-Penn League facing off against each other Monday night at Eastwood Field, something had to give.
The Williamsport Crosscutters were riding a 12-game winning streak while the Mahoning Valley Scrappers had won seven of their last 10 contests and were atop the Pinckney Division by 1 1/2 games over the Auburn Doubledays.
Mahoning Valley took advantage of seven Crosscutter errors, 10 walks and three hit batters to post a 6-2 victory, putting an end to Williamsport's team-record win streak.
"We definitely took advantage of their mistakes," said Scrappers manager Rouglas Odor. "It's tough to win that many games in a row and while you are going to lose at some point in time, it was too bad that they had the game that they had tonight."
Good start
Jason Stanford, who was on a rehab assignment from the Cleveland Indians, drew the start for the Scrappers and faced five batters with his 25-pitch allotment.
The game marked his first time pitching off the mound since facing the Minnesota Twins April 16, 2004, and came almost a year to the day of his Tommy John surgery.
"I was impressed with his performance," Odor said. "It was unbelievable to see him throw as hard as he did for having been out over a year. He is a great player and a great person and you could tell that he was excited to be on the mound once again."
The Scrappers (19-15) struck first in their half of the opening inning without the aid of a hit. Evandy De Leon drew a one-out walk then advanced to second when Matt Fornasiere reached on an error by Crosscutter shortstop Brent Lillibridge.
De Leon and Fornasiere then pulled off a double steal and when catcher Chris Jones' throw ended up in center field, De Leon scored to give the Scrappers a 1-0 lead.
Williamsport (21-13) knotted the score in its half of the fourth inning when Brad Corley led off with a single, advanced to third on a single by Jason Delaney and scored on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Francis Poni.
Taking control
The Scrapppers made it 2-1, taking the lead for good in their half of the fifth when Jose Chavez led off with a single, advanced to second on an infield hit by Jose Constanza and then scored on a RBI single by Fornasiere.
Mahoning Valley made it 4-2 by adding two more runs in the sixth inning when Costanza's infield grounder scored Cirilo Cumberbatch and Fornasiere's sacrifice fly drove in shortstop Andy Lytle.
They added solo runs in the seventh and eighth when Cumberbatch's single drove home Trevor Mortensen and Fornasiere's single drove home De Leon.
Jensen Lewis, who relieved Stanford in the first inning, threw 5 1/3 innings, striking out five for his third win, while Matt Haynes threw the final three innings for to pick up his first save of the year.
The second game of the series takes place tonight at 7:05.
WILLIAMSPORTSCRAPPERS
abrhbiabrhbi
Lillibridge ss3010Constanza5011
Santiago 2b4000Deleon lf1200
Pearce 1b4020Fornasiere 2b3013
Solano 3b3110Peterson 1b3000
Corley cf4110Mortensen dh5110
Delaney lf4020Casillas c3000
Poni dh2001Cmbrbtch rf2111
Jones c3001Lytle ss2100
Stevens rf3000Chavez 3b2100
Boone ph1000
Totals31272Totals26645
Williamsport000100001--2
Scrappers10001211x--6
E--Lillibridge 2, Santiago, Pearce, Jones 2, Stevens. DP--Williamsport 2, Scrappers 1. LOB--Williamsport 7, Scrappers 11. 2B--Pearce, Mortensen. S--Lytle. SF--Poni, Jones, Fornasiere. SB--Deleon 2, Fornasiere, Chavez. CS--Lillibridge, Casillas, Cumberbatch.
IPHRERBBSO
Williamsport
Munoz301042
Cuffman L, 1-12 1-323241
Moeves222120
Miller2-300000
Scrappers
Stanford2-300021
Lewis W, 3-05 1-351105
Haynes S, 1321105
HBP--by Cuffman (Chavez), by Cuffman (Deleon), by Moeves (Deleon), by Haynes (Poni). Umpires--Home, Bob Boyle; First, Mario Seneca. T--2:51. A--5,482.