Allman a bright spot for Scrappers

By Joe Scalzo | July 2, 2009 at 12:08a.m.

The undrafted free agent hit a solo home run in Mahoning Valley’s 2-1 loss to the Williamsport Crosscutters on Wednesday.

BY Joe Scalzo

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

NILES — After a lousy night, and a forgettable game, Scrappers fans may be looking for a good story.

Enter John Allman.

After a stellar career at Kansas, Allman’s phone sat silent on draft day last year but wasn’t ready to give up on his baseball dream.

So he signed a free agent deal last June with the Indians and, through hustle and hard work, basically forced the team to keep him.

“He’s been great for us; he’s been great for our organization,” said Scrappers manager Travis Fryman following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Williamsport Crosscutters on a chilly, soggy night at Eastwood Field. “He was a non-drafted free agent and he just wanted somebody to let him come to spring training and play, so we did.

“And he played so well, and played so hard, the staff fell in love with him.”

Allman, an outfielder, started the year at Class-A Kinston, where he batted .273 in 19 games. He then played 20 games for Lake County (batting .190 with three homers) before finding his way to Mahoning Valley.

He’s made himself at home so far, batting .347 in 13 games and hitting his first homer, an opposite-field laser that landed in the right field bullpen, on Wednesday night.

“I don’t try to hit balls out that way,” said Allman, who is originally from St. Louis. “I just got a ball up in the zone and I was able to drive it.”

Allman entered the game batting .455 in his first six games at Eastwood Field.

“It’s still early in the year and we’ve played a lot of games at home,” he said. “Hopefully we can keep this winning thing going and keep swinging the bats well.”

Allman won’t be mistaken for a power hitter — he had just 17 home runs in more than 700 NCAA at-bats — but he never hit under .333 at Kansas and has made the most of his talent.

“He’s played well everywhere we’ve asked him to play this year,” said Fryman. “My guess is he won’t be here all year long.

“He’s done so well at every level, he’s bounced around the field and he’s been a role player for us. He brings so much to our club and I’m happy to have him as long as I can.”

While Allman is happy with his start, he said he’s not focused on getting called up.

“That’s out of my control,” he said. “I’m just taking it day-by-day.

“I’m happy to be here. I’m just going to keep playing hard.”

Brett Brach started and gave up one run over five innings for the Scrappers (8-5), while Austin Adams (0-1) got the loss after surrendering a solo homer in three innings. Nick Kirk tossed a scoreless ninth.

“The pitching was great,” said Fryman. “We just couldn’t get any runs. That’s sort of been our issue the last week or so.”

Chun Chen had two hits, including a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth. But the Scrappers couldn’t get a sacrifice bunt down and Chen was eventually stranded at third to end the game.

“We just didn’t string hits together,” Fryman said.

Adam Buschini homered and Jeremy Barnes went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI to lead Williamsport (8-5), which has won two straight.

Matt Way (one run over four innings), Ebelin Lugo (two scoreless innings to improve to 2-0) and Austin Hyatt (three scoreless innings for his second save) combined on a six-hitter for the Crosscutters.

———

WilliamsportScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

James cf4000J.Henry cf3000

L.Castro rf3110Folgia lf4010

J. Barnes ss4021Bellows 2b4000

Valle c2000J.Smit 1b4000

Buschini 3b4111Allman rf4111

Hewitt 2b4000Ch.Chen c4020

Warren lf4000K.Smith ss3000

Murillo 1b3000Palincsar dh3010

Uhl dh3000Vera 2b4010

Totals31242Totals33161

Williamsport100001010—2

Scrappers000100000—1

E—Hewitt (7). LOB—Williamsport 6, Scrappers 8. 2B—J.Barnes (3), Ch. Chen 2 (3). HR—Buschini (1), Allman (1). S—K. Smith. SB—L. Castro 2 (2), Vera (2).

IPHRERBBSO

Williamsport

Way431115

Lugo W, 2-0210003

Hyatt S, 2320004

Scrappers

B. Brach531135

Adams L, 0-1311114

Kirk100003

HBP—by Way (Palincsar). Umpires—Home, Joe Muenzer; Bases, Chris Nguyen. T—2:16 (0:17 delay). A—1,300.

HOW THEY SCORED

Crosscutters 1st — James flies out (F-8). Castro walks. With Barnes batting, Castro steals 2nd. Barnes doubles to right, Castro scores. Valle grounds out (2-3), Barnes to 3rd. Buschini grounds out (5-3). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Scrappers 4th — Allman homers to right. Chen grounds out (6-3). Smith grounds out (4-3). Palincsar singles to center. Vera grounds into fielder’s choice (6-4), Palincsar out at 2nd. 1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

Crosscutters 6th — Pitching change: Adams replaces Brach. Valle strikes out swinging. Buschini homers to left. Hewitt strikes out swinging. Warren grounds out (5-3). 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 LOB.

scalzo@vindy.com

In the bigs: Kennedy Catholic High graduate Nolan Reimold, who once played for the Aberdeen IronBirds of the New York-Penn League, is batting .296 with nine homers and 20 RBIs in 64 games for the Baltimore Orioles since being called up on May 14. Reimold was drafted out of Bowling Green in the second round by the Orioles in 2005. Area NYPL connections: State College first baseman Justin Byler, whose team just wrapped up a three-game series with the Scrappers, is batting .172 in 11 games with two doubles and a triple. Byler is a Warren Harding High graduate who also played at Howland. Girard High graduate Stephen Procner, a pitcher with the Aberdeen IronBirds, is 0-0 with a 0.87 ERA through four appearances so far this season. He has struck out eight in 101‚Ñ3 innings. The Scrappers play at Aberdeen from July 20-22. Midwest to Northwest: South Range High graduate Greg Rohan, a 21st round draft pick by the Cubs last month, is batting .286 with three doubles and two RBIs in nine games for the Boise (Idaho) Hawks of the Class A short-season Northwest League. Boardman High graduate Chris Tremblay, a 19th round pick by the Padres last month, is batting .278 in 10 games for the Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds. Rohan, a first baseman, and Tremblay, a middle infielder, both played at Kent State. Boardman High graduate Matt Repec is batting .313 in 38 games for the Modesto (Calif.) Nuts, a Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies that competes in the California League. New faces, new places: Catcher Juan Aponte and pitcher Kyle Smith (Kent State) joined the Scrappers during their six-game road trip, while outfielder Bo Greenwell (son of former major leaguer Mike Greenwell) and pitcher Kaimi Mead were promoted to Lake County. Greenwell batted .346 with two doubles and four RBIs in seven games for Mahoning Valley, while Mead went 1-0 in three games with a 1.80 ERA. This and that: In three relief appearances, LHP Nick Kirk is 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and a team-leading 13 strikeouts. ... RHP Clayton Cook has given up just one run in 10 innings and has struck out 12. ... Jason Smit entered Wednesday’s game with a seven-game hitting streak, batting .360 over that stretch. ... Mahoning Valley pitchers have given up a league-high seven homers and 38 walks, but also have a league-best 99 strikeouts.