Chisenhall stars at plate, but Scrappers fall in 11th

New york-penn league

The Indians’ much-studied, first-round draft pick went 3-for-5 in the Scrappers’ 6-4 loss to Auburn.

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

NILES — When Lonnie Chisenhall talks, you can hear the slight North Carolina drawl in his voice. He’s not quite a good ol’ boy, but he certainly seems like one of the boys.

That’s the hope, anyway.

Chisenhall, of course, is not quite one of the boys. He’s the Cleveland Indians’ first round draft pick, which sets him apart — at least on the surface — from many of the late round draft picks and free agents and other assorted hopefuls that make up a Class A short season roster.

“Just because you’re a first-rounder, doesn’t mean you’re a big leaguer,” he said Monday following the Mahoning Valley Scrappers’ 6-4 loss to the Auburn Doubledays in 11 innings. “You have to work to get there, just like anyone else.”

“I get picked on a little bit. Other than that, it’s fine.”

Picked on, eh? Anything you can share?

“Nah,” he said, smiling. “Sort of insider stuff.”

Whether he likes it or not, Chisenhall has a target on his back at all times. Fans and opposing players watch to see what the first rounder is made of. Teammates watch him in practice and in the locker room to see if he’ll act like one of them, or above them. The Indians’ organization, of course, watches to see whether their pricey prospect can live up to the hype.

“You can’t let it bother you,” he said. “I try to ignore it [the expectations].”

Has he had to pick up any tabs for his teammates?

“They’ve asked me to, but I haven’t yet,” he said, chuckling. “We don’t get paid for awhile, so I’ve got to manage my money pretty good and live off what I can.”

It seems like a good problem to have, but all this stuff can wreak havoc with a player’s head, particularly in a sport like baseball where an empty mind is better than a cluttered one. After a slow start, Chisenhall has started to heat up lately, hitting a walk-off homer earlier in the homestand before Monday’s outburst.

Chisenhall went 3-for-5, reaching base four times (the last on a ball that went 100 feet in the air, 10 feet in front of the mound and dropped four feet out of the infielder’s glove) in arguably his best game of the season.

He had two doubles, a run, an RBI and a stolen base, raising his average from .209 to .250.

“It’s been a good homestand for him,” said Scrappers manager Travis Fryman. “He didn’t get some hits in the first couple games but he hit the ball really hard.

“It looks like he’s getting comfortable and getting a good feel for the swing. It’s a good thing to see.”

Some of the adjustment is due to wooden bats and some of it is due to improved pitching. And some of it ... well, it’s just adjusting to a new life.

After all, he’s only 19.

“If you can hit with metal, you can hit with wood,” he said. “If you hit the ball on the barrel, everything’s fine. The difference is the pitching.

“You’ve got to get used to the pitching.”

Auburn (10-4) trailed 3-1 after seven innings before scoring two runs in the eighth, another in the ninth and two in the 11th. Catcher Joel Collins went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs to lead the Doubledays, who have won four straight.

Robert Alcombrack went 3-for-4 for Mahoning Valley (6-8).

“We played seven innings of great baseball and not too good after that,” said Fryman. “That’s pretty much the game in a nutshell.”

scalzo@vindy.com

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AUBURNSCRAPPERS

abrhbiabrhbi

Nicolas rf6120Blair rf4100

Demons cf6110Velasquez 2b5110

Cooper 1b5021Chisenhall dh5131

Amar dh4021Tice 3b5000

Dl Cmp pr-dh1000Valdes cf4111

Rivera lf2000Pickens c5000

Hopkins lf3000Diaz ss5000

Kervin ss3220Alcmbrck 1b4030

Soto 3b4120Armstrong lf4000

Vasquez 3b5011

Collins c4123

Totals436146Totals41482

Auburn10000002102—6

Scrappers20100000100—4

E—Rivera (1), Soto (3), Velasquez (2). DP—Auburn 1, Scrappers 1. LOB—Auburn 8, Scrappers 6. 2B—Cooper (6), Kervin (3), Collins (2), Velasquez (4), Chisenhall 2 (3). HR—Collins (1). sB—Chisenhall (1). S—Soto. SF—Collins.

IPHRERBBSO

Auburn

Walden4 2-373213

Carreno W, 2-05 1-311016

Daly S, 1100002

Scrappers

Hinkle551103

Turek210001

Roberts132201

Rodrigues221111

McGuire L, 1-2132211

WP—Roberts. Umpires—Home, Chris Graham; Bases, Luke Hamelton, T—3:02. A—2,109.

HOW THEY SCORED

Doubledays 1st—Nicolas flied out (F-7). Demons singled to center. Cooper doubled to center, Demons scored. Amar singled to right, Cooper to 3rd. Rivera struck out swinging. Kervin struck out looking. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.

Scrappers 1st—Blair walked. Valesquez doubled to right, Blair to 3rd. Chisenhall singled to left, Blair scored, Valesquez scored, Chisenhall to 2nd on fielding error (E-7). Tice struck out looking. Valdes popped out (F-6). Pickens grounded out (6-3). 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Scrappers 3rd—Valesquez grounds out (5-3). Chisenhall doubles to right. Tice grounds out (6-3), Chisenhall to 3rd. Valdes singles to left, Chisenhall scores. Pickens strikes out swinging. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Doubledays 8th—Collins homers to right. Nicolas singles to center. Nicolas to 2nd on wild pitch. Demons strikes out swinging. Cooper grounds out (1-3), Nicolas to 3rd. Amar singles to left, Nicolas scores, Hopkins lines out (F-6).

Doubledays 9th—Kervin walks. Soto sacrifice bunt (2-3), Kervin to 2nd. Vasquez strikes out swinging. Collins doubles to left, Kervin scores. Nicolas reaches on fielding error (E-4) Collins out at home (4-2). 1 run, 1 hit, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Scrappers 9th—Valdes walks. Pickens flies out (F-7). Diaz flies out (F-7). Alcombrack singles to right, Pickens scores on throwing error (E-9), Armstrong grounds out (G-3).

Doubledays 11th—Hopkins grounds out (1-3). Kervin walks. Soto singles to right, Kervin to 2nd. Vasquez singles to right, Kervin scores, Soto to 3rd. Collins flies out (F-8), Soto scores. Nicolas singles to left, Vasquez to 3rd. Demons strikes out swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.