Scrappers make mistakes in ninth; Brooklyn takes advantage

Photo by: William D. Lewis

Photo

Scrappers Kyle Bellows dives back to 1rst ahead of the throw. Cyclones 1st baseman is Sam Honeck.

The Cyclones scored three times in the final inning for a 4-2 victory in the matchup of the top teams in the New York-Penn League.

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

NILES — A normally low-key Travis Fryman wore a look of frustration following Tuesday’s game after watching the Mahoning Valley Scrappers play like the best team in the New York-Penn League for the first eight innings, then look like one of the worst in the ninth.

Three mental mistakes — one of them an error — cost them the game as the Brooklyn Cyclones rallied for a 4-2 victory in a matchup of the league’s two top teams at Eastwood Field.

“We knew the games should be very competitive and the difference between winning and losing comes down to the team making the fewest number of mistakes,” said Fryman. “When you get into the big leagues and play postseason games, it’s all about minimizing mistakes.

“That’s what this whole homestand comes down to, in my opinion.”

The Scrappers (33-19), who are now tied with Brooklyn for the league’s best record, entered the ninth inning with a 2-1 lead. They had been 26-0 when leading after eight innings this summer and looked like they’d keep that streak going when reliever Guido Fonseca struck out the first batter.

But Fonseca hit the next batter, Tyler Vaughn, for Mental Mistake No. 1. Nicholas Santomauro followed with a chopper to second that second baseman Casey Frawley ranged far to his left to field. He then tried (and failed) to get Vaughn at second for MM No. 2.

No. 3 came next, as Scott Grimes singled to right. Outfielder Greg Folgia charged the ball but couldn’t reach it, as it bounced under his legs to the wall. Grimes reached third on a two-base error, while Vaughn and Santomauro scored.

Grimes then scored on Dock Doyle’s single to make it 4-2. The Scrappers went down in order in the bottom of the inning.

“Those three mental mistakes cost us the ballgame,” Fryman said. “It’s really been an issue for us all year. Our defense has been mediocre at best.

“You look at the two teams on paper and the biggest difference between the teams is errors.”

Brooklyn has 47 errors — fewest in the NYPL — while the Scrappers’ 70 errors put them near the league leaders.

Third baseman Kyle Bellows had a nice night, hitting a two-run homer in the fourth inning. He’s tied for second in the league with seven homers.

“He [Brandon Moore] doubled up on his curveball and I was sitting on it,” Bellows said. “I got the pitch and hit it well.”

Bellows also made a nice defensive play with one out in the top of the eighth. With Justin Garber on third, Sam Honeck hit a soft liner to Bellows, who caught it and dove to the bag to double up Garber.

Although he’s hitting just .236 this season, Bellows has flashed his potential, Fryman said.

“He’s been very impressive at third base, transitioning there [from shortstop],” said Fryman, who made that transition himself in the major leagues. “He plays third base as well as any player I’ve seen this year and he has room for improvement over there.

“Offensively, he’s shown signs of what he’s capable of. I’m sure he’s frustrated with his lack of consistency but he has a very high ceiling, which is a phrase we use a lot. It means he has the tools and the potential is there.”

Vidal Nuno started for the Scrappers and went six innings, giving up one run on four hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Antwonie Hubbard pitched two shutout innings of relief. Fonseca (1-2) got the loss after blowing his first save of the season.

Moore gave up two runs over 72‚Ñ3 innings, while Michael Powers pitched 11‚Ñ3 innings of shutout relief to get the win.

“Our pitchers always give us a chance to win,” said Bellows. “We didn’t win tonight, but that’s baseball. It’s hard to win games.

“If it was easier, everyone would do it.”

———

BrooklynScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

Garber cf3000J.Henry cf4010

J.Eigsti 2b4020K.Smith ss3000

Honeck 1b4000Kipnis lf3100

L.Rivera rf4000Bellows 3b3112

Vaughn 3b3100Folgia rf3000

Santmauro dh3100Carlson 1b4000

Grimes lf4121Frawley 2b3020

Doyle c4011Ch.Chen dh3000

Shields ss4121D.Childs c3000

Totals33473Totals29242

Brooklyn000001003—4

Scrappers000200000—2

E—Folgia (2). DP—Brooklyn 1, Scrappers 2. LOB—Brooklyn 5, Scrappers 4. 2B—Shields (2), Frawley (3). HR—Shields (1), Bellows (7). SB—J. Eigsti (1), Bellows (7). CS—Folgia (4).

IPHRERBBSO

Brooklyn

B.Moore7 2-342223

Powers W,2-11 1-300011

Scrappers

V.Nuno641105

Hubbard H,3210022

Fonseca BS,1 L,1-2123201

WP—Powers, Hubbard. HBP—by B. Moore (Folgia); by Fonseca (Vaughn). Umpires—Home, Brian Debraywere; Bases, Jose Rivera. T—2:12. A—2,548.

HOW THEY SCORED

Scrappers 4th — Smith flies out (F-9). Kipnis walks. Bellows homers to left, Kipnis scores. Folgia hit by pitch. Carlson flies out (F-7). With Frawley batting, Folgia caught stealing (2-6). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Brooklyn 6th — Shields homers to left. Garber grounds out (6-3). Eigsti singles to left. Honeck pops out (F-5). With Rivera batting, Eigsti steals 2nd. Rivera grounds out (4-3). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Brooklyn 9th — Pitching change: Fonseca replaces Hubbard. Rivera strikes out swinging. Vaughn hit by pitch. Santomauro reaches on fielder’s choice, Vaughn to 2nd. Grimes singles to right, Vaughn scores, Santomauro scores, Grimes to third on fielding error (E-9). Doyle singles to center, Grimes scores. Shields grounds into double play (4-6-3), Doyle out at 2nd. 3 runs, 2 hits, 1 error, 0 LOB.

scalzo@vindy.com