Scrappers game rained out


July 12, 2008 at 10:27p.m.

By STEVE RUMAN

Vindicator Correspondent

NILES – Wrestling was the theme of the night Saturday at Eastwood Field. A makeshift ring at the entrance of the stadium hosted numerous pre-game wrestling matches, while Jerry “The King” Lawler of WWE fame signed autographs and posed for pictures.

Then, soon after the New York-Penn League game between the Scrappers and Hudson Valley got underway, Mother Nature delivered a body slam in the form of a drenching downpour. After playing two innings of baseball, the Scrappers and Renegades sat through a rain delay of more than two hours before the umpires deemed the field unplayable.

The game was suspended, and will be completed today as part of a doubleheader beginning at 5:05. The completion of the Saturday's game will be a nine-inning affair, while the nightcap will be seven innings in length.

Hudson Valley will begin action today by taking a 2-0 lead into the top of the third inning. The Renegades scored single runs in each of the two innings played Saturday night. Robi Estrada led off the game with a walk, advanced to second on a ground out, then scored on an RBI ground-rule double off the bat of Jason Tweedy.

One inning later, Jason Jeffries scored from second on a single off the bat of Michael Ross. Jeffries had reached on a double to the center field wall.

Both runs were scored off of Scrappers starter Russell Young, who entered the contest with a 1-0 record and a 2.25 earned run average.

Renegades starter Shane Dyer worked two perfect innings before the rains came to Eastwood Field.

The Scrappers entered the night with a 10-14 record, seven games behind Jamestown in the Pinkney Division of the NY-PL standings. The Renegades own a 14-10 mark, and are just one game behind Staten Island in the McNamara Division.

The Renegades currently own a four-game winning streak.

Following tonight's doubleheader, the two teams will conclude their three-game series Monday before the Scrappers embark on a six-game road trip which will take them to Lowell and Williamsport.