Thursday, August 24, 2006
The two teams will conclude their three-game series tonight at 7:05 p.m.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NILES -- After combining for 16 runs and 24 base hits on Tuesday night, Mahoning Valley and Jamestown did all of their scoring in the first inning of Wednesday night's game.
Unfortunately for the Scrappers, the Jammers had one more run than they did as Jamestown edged the Scrappers, 3-2, before 2,498 fans at Eastwood Field.
Sparked by a solo home run by John Raynor on the first pitch of the game, the Jammers scored three runs in the top of the first inning.
The Scrappers answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning, making the most of a pair of walks issued by Jammers pitcher Chris Leroux, a single by Jared Goedert and a Jamestown error.
The Scrappers weren't without their scoring opportunities. They had a runner on second with one out in the third, runners on second and third with two outs in the sixth and had the first two batters reach base in the eighth.
"We gave ourselves a lot of chances to at least come back and tie the game if not win it," said Scrappers manager Rouglas Odor. "We had an opportunity to do some damage, but we couldn't lay a [sacrifice] bunt down. We didn't execute and as a result, we lost the game."
Erik Stiller (2-3) got the loss, giving up six hits in his six innings of work. Four of those hits came in the first inning before he settled in to retire 15 of the next 18 batters he faced.
"I think that guy [John Raynor] was coming into the game planning to swing at that first pitch no matter where it was," explained Stiller. "I just left it out over the middle of the plate and up in the zone and he didn't miss it.
"The rest of the hits in that first inning were just some balls that I left up [in the strike zone] a little bit. They weren't terrible pitches, but they weren't where they should have been and I should have been able to get them down."
Although he was tagged with the loss, Odor had a lot of praise for his starting pitcher.
"He was unbelievable after that first inning. He was sharp," said Odor. "He left some pitches up in the zone and they hit them. But after that, he did a great job and gave us a chance to stay in the game."
Another good night
After Jared Goedert finished with three hits in six at-bats on Tuesday, he again had the hot hand for the Scrappers with two singles and a double in five trips to the plate.
"I felt really good at the plate tonight and I have also been fortunate that they [opposing pitchers] have been giving me some pitches to hit," said Goedert. "I have been seeing the ball real well and as a result, I have been hitting pretty well the last week or so."
After Tuesday night's fiasco that saw five Scrapper batters hit with pitches that resulted in three players and a manager ejected from the game, Odor was glad to see the two teams leave that behind them and just play baseball.
"Those things are going to happen in the game and at this level, some pitchers don't have good command of their pitches and sometimes that is misinterpreted by teams," Odor explained. "I don't like to see anybody getting hurt from either team. These are young players are playing for the opportunity to someday play in the big leagues and we want them to stay healthy.
"It was just good to see both teams be very professional about the situation and just go out tonight and play good baseball."
The two teams will conclude the three-game series tonight at 7:05 p.m.
JAMESTOWNSCRAPPERS
abrhbiabrhbi
Raynor cf4111Denham cf4100
Coghlan 3b4110Lytle ss4120
Blackwood lf4000Goedert 3b5031
Morrison 1b4110McBride c4001
McDougall rf3011Realini 1b3000
Mense lf4021Davis 2b4010
Jacobs dh3000Montero rf4010
Ochoa c4010Roberts dh4010
Garcia ss2010DeLeon lf3000
Totals32383Totals35282
Jamestown300000000--3
Scrappers200000000--2
E--Mense (3), Blackwood (2); LOB--Jammers 5, Scrappers 10; 2B--Mense (9), Goedert (13); HR--Raynor (4); S--Garcia; PB--McBride (4); CS--Lytle, Montero.
IPHRERBBSO
Jamestown
Leroux432130
Buente (W,2-2)230003
Jackson110000
Czyz110012
Encamacion (S, 5)100001
Scrappers
Stiller (L, 2-3)663312
Hering210002
Loop110010
IBB--Jacobs (By Loop); Umpires--Home Jason Cooksey; First, Travis Hatch; T--2:48; A--2,498.
HOW THEY SCORED
Jammers 1st -- John Raynor homers to left field; Chris Coghlan singles to center; Jacob Blackwood pops out; Logan Morrison singles to center fielder, Coghlan to 3rd; Spike McDougall grounds out, Coghlan scores, Morrison to 2nd; Hunter Mense singles to center, Morrison scores, Mense out at 2nd. 3 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB
Scrappers 1st -- Jason Denham walks; Andrew Lytle walks, Denham to 2nd; Jared Goedert singles to left, Denham scores, Goedert to 2nd; Lytle advances to 3rd, on fielding error by left fielder Hunter Mense; Matthew McBride grounds out, Lytle scores; Dustin Realini grounds out, Goedert to 3rd; Adam Davis grounds out. 2 runs, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.