News and Notes from Eastwood Field

Too much rain, not enough drain: Tuesday’s cancellation had more to do with drainage than the forecast. It rained heavily in the hour leading up to the scheduled 7:05 p.m. start but the skies were clear by 8 p.m. Problem was, the rain created a lot of standing water at Eastwood Field, particularly in the right field corner. “It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to get the water out of that corner,” said Fryman. “The bullpen is right there and the water has nowhere to go. It becomes a real danger for the fielders.” The grounds crew is expected to install a drain in that corner on Aug. 1. “They really do a great job with the field here,” Fryman said.

Midpoint evaluation: As his team reaches the midpoint of the season, Scrappers manager Travis Fryman is conducting one-on-one interviews with each player during the Aberdeen series. “We’re just telling them what they need to be working on and what we expect out of the second half,” said Fryman. One point of emphasis is defense. The Scrappers have committed 54 errors over 33 games. Only Tri-City has been worse in the 14-team New York-Penn League. “Defensively, we’ve been terrible,” Fryman said. “That area is going to get a lot of attention in the second half.” The Scrappers (15-18) are sixth in the league in batting with a .248 average and ninth in pitching with a 3.55 ERA. “The trend I’ve seen is an upward trend,” said Fryman. “We’ve improved each week and offensively, we’re performing more consistently. The pitching has improved and the bullpen has improved dramatically. I’m very encouraged by what I’ve seen and I expect us to play well in the second half.” The Scrappers have 44 games left.

From Mahoning Valley to the minors: Aberdeen pitcher Stephen Procner, a Girard High graduate, is one of five players in the minor leagues with area ties. Former Scrapper Jeff Hehr (Mooney) is batting .246 with 21 doubles in 80 games as a third baseman for Single-A Lake County. Boardman High graduate Matt Repec is batting .260 with nine homers in 86 games for the Modesto (Calif.) Nuts, a Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. Kennedy Catholic High grad Nolan Reimold is batting .288 with 15 homers for Double-A Bowie Baysox. Reimold, an outfielder, was drafted in the second round in 2005 and is considered one of the team’s top prospects. Outfielder Brandon Drespling (Laurel/Westminster) signed a free agent deal with the Milwaukee Brewers after going undrafted last month. He’s hitting .176 in 12 games with their Arizona League team.

Good matchup: The Scrappers have fared well against Aberdeen over the last six years, going 15-3 (an .833 winning percentage) with three season sweeps. The Ironbirds have won at least 10 games against every other team in the NYPL.

This and that: Juan Valdes has 21 RBIs, which is tied for fifth in the New York-Penn League. ... Isaias Velasquez is tied for second in the league with 38 hits. ... First baseman Brock Simpson has not grounded into a double play in 95 at-bats. ... Lonnie Chisenhall is 5-for-5 in steals this year. Those five steals are a team-high. ... The Scrappers are 10-0 this year when leading after eight innings.

Joe Scalzo