Jammers take Simpson for granted, and pay

By ERIC HAMILTON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NILES — Mahoning Valley first baseman Brock Simpson turned the ultimate insult into the best possible result.

With the Scrappers trailing Jamestown 8-7 with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday night at Eastwood Field, the Jammers’ elected to intentionally walk Ryan Blair to load the bases.

That move gave Simpson the message that Jamestown wasn’t too worried about him coming up with a hit — after all, he had already struck out twice.

“Honestly, it ticked me off a little bit,” Simpson said. “It definitely pumped me up for that at-bat. I was just looking for a good pitch to hit and I got it on the first one.”

Simpson drove the first offering in the gap, scoring Cord Phelps and Tim Fedroff to lift the Scrappers to a dramatic come-from-behind 9-8 victory.

The game-winner highlighted Mahoning Valley’s four-run ninth inning, which was bolstered by two Jamestown fielding errors.

“I had struck out the last time, so I was just looking to hit the ball hard somewhere,” Simpson said. “It seems like all year we’ve been in close games, so we knew we were capable of winning it in the ninth.”

After leaving the bases loaded in the eighth, it looked like the Scrappers’ comeback hopes were dead.

Trailing 8-5 in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Scrappers had prime opportunity to tie or take the lead. A single and two walks loaded the bases with two outs against Jamestown reliever Andy Loomis.

But Loomis foiled the comeback by striking out Blair to end the inning and strand three Mahoning Valley baserunners and preserve Jamestown’s 8-5 lead.

The Scrappers put that missed opportunity behind them in their final at-bat, mounting a rally courtesy of two Jamestown errors and some timely hitting.

Alcombrack led off the inning with a single. Pinch hitter Ramon Hernandez reached on an error by Jammers’ shortstop Joel Staples.

Fedroff tallied an RBI-single to score Alcombrack and cut the deficit to 8-6. Phelps reached base when the Jamestown right fielder misplayed a fly ball, allowing Hernandez to score and get the Scrappers top 8-7 with no outs.

A Lonnie Chisenhall sacrifice bunt moved Fedroff and Phelps to third and second, respectively with one out.

Jeremie Tice was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a possible double play. That set the stage for Simpson.

“Brock [Simpson] needed a big hit tonight,” Scrappers manager Travis Fryman said. “He’s been pretty consistent all year, but has struggled a bit lately. But he’s had a good year for us and he came through tonight.

“These guys don’t give up or lay down for anyone. We’ve been behind a lot in some games, but they fight back. We thought tonight might be like last night and it was. But last night we didn’t get the hit we needed — tonight we did.”

JAMESTOWN SCRAPPERS

ab r h bi ab r h bi

Mattison cf 5 1 1 0 Fedroff cf 5 2 2 1

Gran 3b 4 1 0 1 Phelps 2b 5 2 3 2 Synan rf-lf 5 0 0 0 Chisenhall ss 4 1 2 1

Fermin c 4 2 1 0 Tice 3b 3 1 1 1

Banks 1b 4 1 1 2 Simpson 1b 4 0 1 2

Rojas 1b 0 0 0 0 Diaz dh 3 0 0 0

Staples ss 4 2 3 3 Velasquez ph 0 0 0 0

Turner 2b 3 0 0 0 Blair rf 4 1 1 0

Thieme c 3 1 1 2 Alcombrack c 4 1 1 0

Martinez lf 4 0 1 0 Armstrong lf 4 1 0 1

Bass rf 0 0 0 0

Totals 36 8 8 8 Totals 36 9 11 8

Jamestown 120 310 100 — 8

Scrappers 003 002 004 — 9

E—Tice (16), Armstrong (1). LOB—Jamestown 4, Scrappers 7. 2B—Staples (7), Fermin (10), Martinez (4), Blair (5), Phelps (9). 3B—Mattison (4). Tice (3). HR—Thieme (2), Staples (5). S—Turner.

IP H R ER BB SO

Jamestown

Dorn 5 4 3 3 0 6

Crawford 2 1-3 3 2 2 2 3

Loomis BS 3, L, 4-2 1 4 4 4 2 2

Scrappers

Hinkle 4 7 6 6 1 5

Creps 3 1 2 0 1 1

McGuire W, 3-4 2 0 0 0 0 4

WP—Crawford, Creps. IBB—Tice (by Loomis). Umpires—Home, Aaron Larson; Bases, Jose Estera; . T—2:53. A—3,644.