Yo Adrian! Scrappers KO’d by Crosscutters

By Joe Scalzo

Williamsport 8, Mahoning Valley 0

Mahoning Valley managed just five hits and had a costly error in the seventh inning.

NILES — Thursday was Italian Heritage Night at Eastwood Field and probably the best thing for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers to do after the game was fugheddaboutit.

After taking the first two games against the Williamsport Crosscutters, the Scrappers fell 8-0 in front of 3,618 fans.

The night was a salute to Rocky Balboa, and this story will be too, featuring quotes from Sylvester Stallone’s most famous movies.

The Scrappers surrendered eight hits and also gave up six walks, three stolen bases and committed a costly error in the seventh inning.

Rocky’s response?

“Let me tell you something you already know,” he told his son in “Rocky Balboa.” “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.”

Mahoning Valley also managed just five hits, most of them spread out, and left eight batters on base. Four baserunners were left in scoring position with two outs.

Rocky’s response?

“If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change,” he told the crowd at the end of “Rocky IV.”

The Scrappers left after the game for Batavia, N.Y., to begin a six-game road trip — the first of the season and the first of many players’ professional careers.

To paraphrase Paulie, they got out of here “instamatically.”

First-year manager Travis Fryman, who suffered his first managerial loss was philosophical afterward, saying, “We didn’t do a whole lot right. I’ve never seen a team win a game when they didn’t score any runs. And they don’t win too many when they give up eight runs.

“We obviously didn’t play well. That’s what happens.”

Rocky’s response?

“It ain’t how hard you hit; it’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. That’s how winning gets done. You gotta be willing to take the hit, and not point fingers.”

Fryman took a hit himself, and didn’t point fingers. When asked about sending Juan Valdes home from third in the third inning, then watching him get thrown out, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “In hindsight, I’d probably like to have that one back.”

Alas, they get another chance today. And while it’s the first road trip, Fryman said he doesn’t plan to say much to his players about playing well on the road.

“Most of the guys come from good college programs that travel a little bit,” he said. “The biggest adjustment they’re making is just playing on an everyday basis. Road trips are nothing new.”

And they’ll enter it having played pretty well in the first two games, which gives them something to build on.

“We had a great first series,” Fryman said. “We won the series, we got two wins and guys got acclimated. We covered the team fundamentals the last four days and gotten a good bit accomplished.

“Now we have our first road trip here and we’re gonna do the best we can.”

Over a long season, teams will have nights like Thursday’s. But they keep playing because baseball is what they’re best at.

And, to paraphrase the Italian Stallion, “they can’t sing or dance.”

scalzo@vindy.com

HOW THE SCORED

Williamsport 1st—Haislet walks. With Hargrave batting, Haislet to 2nd on wild pitch. Hargrave strikes out swinging. Hamilton strikes out swinging. Overbeck singles to left, Haislet scores. D’Arnaud pops out (F-6). 1 run, 1 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Williamsport 2nd—Frew doubles to left. Hanzawa doubles to center, Frew scores. Cambero singles to left, Hanzawa scores. Quiroz pops out (F-6). Haislet strikes out swinging. Hargrave flies out (F-8). 2 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Williamsport 7th—Cambero singles to center. With Quiroz batting, Cambero steals 2nd. Quiroz strikes out looking. With Haislet batting, Cambero steals 3rd. Haislet walks. Hargrave grounds into fielder’s choice (5-4), Cambero scores, Haislet out at 2nd. Hamilton doubles to left, thrown out at 3rd. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Williamsport 8th—Overbeck hit by pitch. D’Arnaud walks, Overbeck to 2nd. Frew infield single, Overbeck to 3rd, D’Arnaud to 2nd. Hanzawa grounds into fielder’s choice, Overbeck scores, D’Arnaud to 3rd, Frew to 2nd, Hanzawa to 1st. Cambero grounds into fielder’s choice (4-2), D’Arnaud out at home, Frew to 3rd, Hanzawa to 2nd, Cambero to 1st. Quiroz reaches on fielder’s choice (E-5), Frew scores, Hanzawa to 3rd, Cambero to 2nd, Quiroz to 1st on throwing error. Haislet hit by pitch, Hanzawa scores, Cambero to 3rd, Quiroz to 2nd. Hargrave strikes out looking. Hamilton grounds out (4-3). 3 runs, 1 hit, 0 errors, 3 LOB.

WILLIAMSPORTSCRAPPERS

abrhbiabrhbi

Haislet rf1101Valdes cf3000

Hargrave dh5101Blair rf4010Hamilton 1b4011Chisenhall ss4000

Overbeck 3b4111Simpson 1b2000

D’Arnaud c3000Rodriguez 2b4010

Frew lf5220Pickens c4010

Hanzawa ss4212Infante 3b4020

Cambaro 2b4121Alcombrack dh1000

Quiroz cf4010Webb dh2000

Armstrong lf3000

Totals34887Totals31050

Williamsport120000230—8

Scrappers000000000—0

E—Infante (1). GIDP—Williamsport 1. LOB—Williamsport 7, Scrappers 8. 2B—Frew (1), Hanzawa (2), Hamilton (1), Blair (1) SB—Cambero 3.

IPHRERBBSO

Williamsport

Roth (W, 1-0)630034

Noles (S, 1)320011

Scrappers

Mean (L, 0-1)243313

Martinez410033

Turek1 1-335421

Morales1 2-300002

HBP—by Turek (Overbeck, Haislet); WP—Roth, Mead; Umpires—Home, Doug Vines, First, Joey Amaral; T—2:54; A—3,618.