Scrappers ousted from 1st

Tuesday, August 29, 2006 Auburn won 10-6 despite committing six errors. By PETE MOLLICA VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF NILES — Rookie relief pitcher Neil Wagner has been the strength of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers bullpen all of this season. Monday night, the scrappy right-handed pitcher proved he was human. Wagner came on to pitch in the eighth inning with the Scrappers holding a 6-4 lead over the Auburn Doubledays. When the inning ended, the Doubledays were in command, 9-6, en route to a 10-6 victory before 2,041 fans at Eastwood Field. The loss knocked the Scrappers (34-32) out of a share of the lead in the Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League. They entered the game just one percentage point behind Auburn and State College. Wild pitch, walk Wagner entered the game in the eighth with one out and runners on first and second and the Scrappers leading 6-4. He quickly tossed a wild pitch advancing the runners and then walked the bases loaded. Brian Jeroloman singled in one run before Wagner gave up a grand slam to Matthew Lane to give the Doubledays the lead. "Wagner has been pitching great all season long," Scrappers manager Rouglas Odor said. "He's a human being and he's going to make mistakes. This was by far his worst outing of the season. "We're still in this race and we'll come back tomorrow and do it all over again," Odor said. "These kids are getting great experience being in a pennant race and it's all about winning from here on out. "We played very well up until the eighth and gave ourselves a chance to win the ball game, but these things happen and we just have to rebound tomorrow." Early deficit The Scrappers fell behind 3-1 early in the game as starting pitcher Mike Eisenberg allowed a solo home run to Luke Hopkins in the second and a two-run blast by Matt Liuzza in the third. Eisenberg went five innings and left the game with a 5-3 lead. Kyle Collina came on and pitched a solid sixth and seventh before running into trouble to open the eighth when Wagner was called. The Scrappers scored once in the second on a solo home run by Evandy DeLeon to left field. They scored three times in the third, getting five hits including a two-run double by Dustin Realini and an RBI single by Jason Denham. Auburn errors Mahoning Valley added single runs in the fourth and fifth with the help of four Auburn errors. The Doubledays committed six errors in the game. The Scrappers had only one hit in those run scoring innings. Auburn added their final run in the top of the ninth when reliever Derrick Loop came in and hit the first two batters he faced and the Doubledays scored with the help of the Scrappers' only error of the contest. Both teams finished with 11 hits. Realini led the Scrappers with a pair of doubles, while Denham and Kelly Edmundson each added a pair of singles. Liuzza and Lane each had a home run and a double to lead the Doubledays (34-30). Today, the Scrappers take to the road to play a two-game series with State College beginning at 7:05 p.m. ——— AUBURNSCRAPPERS abrhbiabrhbi Calderone cf5020Davis 2b5221 Zeskind lf5120Lytle 1b5110 Campbell 2b2200Rodriguez ss4000 Liuzza dh4123Realini 3b5122 Sena pr0100Denham cf4121 Scobee ph0000Cmbrbtch rf5010 Baksh rf4110De Leon lf4111 Hopkins 1b3211Edmundson c5020 Jeroloman c5111Thomas dh5000 Lane 3b5124 Diaz ss3000 Totals3610119Totals426115 Auburn012000061—10 Scrappers013110000—6 E—Lane 4 (14), Diaz 2 (15), Davis (14). DP—Auburn 2, Scrappers 1. LOB—Auburn 7, Scrappers 12. 2B—Lane (9), Liuzza (11), Lytle (9), Realini 2 (11), Cumberbatch (3). HR—Hopkins (5), Liuzza (5), Lane (4), De Leon (4). SB—Diaz (4), Calderone (6), Edmundson (1). CS—Campbell (10). IPHRERBBSO Auburn Reddout486422 Harrison220001 Tritz W, 2-4110001 Bigley S, 5200010 Scrappers Eisenberg563324 Collina2 1-333312 Wagner L, 0-12-323320 Loop101010 Reddout pitched to 3 batters in the 5th. WP—Reddout, Wagner. HBP—by Loop (Campbell), by Loop (Scobee). Umpires—Home, Jason Cooksey; First, Travis Hatch. T—2:49. A—2,041. HOW THEY SCORED Doubledays 2nd — Luke Hopkins homered to left-centerfield; Brian Jeroloman flied out to center; Matthew Lane doubled to right-center; Jonathon Diaz flied out to center; Adam Calderone grounded out. 1 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Scrappers 2nd — Jason Denham grounded out; Cirillo Cumberbatch popped out; Evandy DeLeon homered to left field; Kelly Edmundson singled to left; Brent Thomas grounded into force out at second. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Auburn 3rd — Ben Zeskind struckout, Scott Campbell walked; Matt Liuzza homered to left field, Campbell scoring; Jonathon Baksh struckout; Luke Hopkins grounded out. 2 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB. Scrappers 3rd — Adam Davis hit infield single to third; Andy Lytle ground rule double to left, Davis to third; Josh Rodriguez struckout; Dustin Realini doubled to left, Davis and Lytle scoring; Jason Denham singled to left, Realini scoring; Cirillo Cumberbatch doubled off left field wall, Denham to third; Evandy DeLeon was walked intentionally to load bases; Kelly Edmundson flied out to right, Denham scores; Denham out at third on appeal play. 3 runs, 5 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB. Scrappers 4th — Brent Thomas struckout; Adam Davis reached on error at third; Andy Lytle reached on error at third, Davis to third; Davis scored on a wild pitch, Lytle to second; Josh Rodriguez grounded out, Lytle to third; Dustin Realini flied out. 1 run, 0 hits, 2 errors, 1 LOB. Scrappers 5th — Jason Denham infield single to short; Cirillo Cumberbatch reached on error at short, Denham to second; Evandy DeLeon reached on error at short, Denham to third, Cumberbatch to second; Kelly Edmundson struckout, Brent Thomas popped out; Adam Davis infield single to short, Denham scoring, Cumberbatch to third, DeLeon to second; Andy Lytle grounded out. 1 run, 2 hits, 2 errors, 3 LOB. Auburn 8th — Ben Zeskind singled to center; Scott Campbell flied out to center; Matt Liuzza doubled to right-center, Zesking scoring; Emmanuel Sena pinch run for Liuzza; Jonathon Baksh walked; Neil Wagner replaced Kyle Collina pitching; Wild pitch sent Sena to third, Baksh to second; Luke Hopkins walked to load bases; Brian Jeroloman singled to left, Sena scoring, Baksh to third, Hopkins to second; Matthew Lane homered to right field, Baksh, Hopkins, Jeroloman all scoring; Jonathon Diaz walked; Adam Calderone popped out; Zeskind popped out. 6 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB. Auburn 9th — Scott Campbell was hit by pitch; Shawn Scobee was hit by pitch, Campbell to second; Jonathon Baksh hit into a force out at second; Baksh to second on error by second, Campbell scoring; Luke Hopkins walkied; Brian Jeroloman flied out to left; Matthew Lane flied out. 1 run, 0 hits, 1 error, 2 LOB.