Good riddance — Yankees complete sweep

Staten Island’s Neil Medchill hit his third home run in as many games, leading the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Scrappers at Eastwood Field on Thursday.

By JOE SCALZO

Vindicator sports staff

NILES — After another loss to Staten Island on Thursday night, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers can take comfort in two things:

- The Yankees are leaving town.

- They’re taking Neil Medchill with them.

Medchill went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs, hitting his third homer in as many games, as the Yankees rallied to beat Mahoning Valley 5-4 at Eastwood Field and sweep the three-game set.

Medchill’s seven homers this season lead the New York-Penn League and are two more than the Scrappers have combined.

“I wasn’t aware of that,” he said. “I’m glad I have seven.”

Medchill, an 11th round pick out of Oklahoma State, went 6-for-11 in the series with four runs and eight RBIs.

“He had a pretty good series, didn’t he?” Scrappers manager Travis Fryman said.

He gave the Yankees (14-13) an early 2-0 lead in the second inning when he crushed an inside fastball off the WKBN sign above the right field bullpen.

“I thought he [pitcher Clayton Cook] was going to throw a changeup and he ended up throwing a fastball inside and I just reacted to it,” he said.

Medchill, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound left fielder, provided the signature moment of the series on Wednesday, when Fryman intentionally walked Staten Island’s No. 3 and No. 4 hitters to load the bases to face Medchill. (When asked if that had ever happened to him, Medchill smiled and said, “That is definitely a first.”)

Reliever Nick Kirk (who had struck him out earlier in the game) promptly threw a slider that didn’t slide very well and Medchill hit it out.

“[Kirk] is my good buddy, so I guess I got him back a little bit,” he said.

Just before that at-bat, four fans behind home base started heckling Medchill.

“I just kind of looked over and laughed,” he said. “After I hit the home run, I kind of looked back that way and they were dying laughing.”

The Scrappers lost that game 9-1, but they played much better on Thursday, taking a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth before Staten Island tied the game in the sixth, then won it in the eighth. Mahoning Valley (16-11) had 11 hits, but was just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

“Tonight you got the sense we gave it away a little bit,” said Fryman. “Medchill had a good series, but they beat us with their 7-8-9 hitters.”

(Staten Island’s No. 7 and No. 8 hitters went a combined 5-for-8 on Thursday.)

“Obviously it was not a good series, but it’s good in that it gave me a good feel for where we’re at as a club, where our issues are, where we need to work,” said Fryman. “And it’ll be good for our guys, too. We’ve got to keep them motivated.

“Hopefully they realize they’ve got work to do.”

Jordan Henry had another good game for Mahoning Valley, going 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. Tim Palincsar added two hits and a run and Rafael Vera had two hits.

Cook started and went four innings, giving up two runs on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks. Jeremy Johnson tossed three innings of relief, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits with two strikeouts. Tyler Sturdevant (0-1) got the loss, giving up a run on three hits in the eighth. Cory Burns finished it with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Deangelo Mack had three hits to lead Staten Island.

———

Staten IslandScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

Paredes 2b5020J.Henry cf3120

Angelini ss5000K.Smith ss5110

Z.Almonte dh3000J.Smit 1b4011

Higashioka c3100Ch.Chen c3100

Medchill lf3222Carlson dh5011

H.Rabago 3b3220Bellows 3b3010

D.Mack rf4031Folgia lf4010

Murton 1b4021Palincsar rf4120

F.Santna cf4000Vera 2b4020

Totals345114Totals374112

Staten Island020002010—5

Scrappers003100000—4

E—Paredes (5), K. Smith (4). DP—Staten Island 1. LB—Staten Island 6, Scrappers 10. 2B—Medchill (9), Palincsar (3). 3B—J. Smit (4). HR—Medchill (7). CS—Paredes 2 (4). SF—J. Smit.

IPHRERBBSO

Staten Island

Vizcaino484325

B.Watkins220002

G.Brooks W,2-0100010

Flannery H,5110020

R.Marte S,3100001

Scrappers

C.Cook442233

J.Johnson342102

Sturdevant L,0-1131110

Burns100001

Umpires—Home, Robert Calvert; Bases, Garrett Corl. T—3:01. A—4,871.

HOW THEY SCORED

Yankees 2nd — Higashioka walks. Medchill homers to right, Higashioka scores. Rabago walks. Mack flies out (F-8). Murton strikes out swinging. Santana strikes out swinging. 2 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Scrappers 3rd — Henry singles to left. Smith singles to center, Henry to 3rd. Smit sacrifice fly (F-7), Henry scores. Chen walks, Smith to 2nd. Carlson singles to center, Smith scores, Chen to 2nd. Bellows grounds into fielder’s choice (6-4), Carlson out at 2nd, Chen scores, Bellows to first on throwing error (E-4). Folgia flies out (F-7). 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Scrappers 4th — Palincsar doubles to left. Vera singles to left, Palincsar to 3rd. Henry walks, Vera to 2nd. Smith grounds into double play (6-4-3), Palincsar scores, Vera to 3rd, Henry out at 2nd. Smit strikes out looking. 1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

Yankees 6th — Higashioka grounds out (4-3). Medchill doubles to center. Rabago singles to center, Medchill to 3rd. Mack singles to left, Medchill scores, Rabago to 2nd. Murton grounds into fielder’s choice (4-6), Rabago scores, Mack out at 2nd, Murton to 1st on fielding error (E-6). Santana strikes out swinging. 2 runs, 3 hits, 1 error, 1 LOB.

Yankees 8th — Pitching change: Sturdevant replaces Johnson. Higashioka flies out (F-8). Medchill walks. Rabago singles to left, Medchill to 2nd. Mack singles to left, Medchill out at home (7-5-2), Rabago to 3rd on throw, Mack to 2nd. Murton singles to left, Rabago scores, Mack out at home on throw (7-5-2). 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.

scalzo@vindy.com