Henry’s patience lifts Scrappers to 8-7 victory

Photo by: Special to The Vindicator/Nick Mays

Photo

Casey Frawley of the Scrappers gets out of the way of a loose ball in front of catcher Sebastian Valle during their game Sunday afternoon.

Photo by: Special to The Vindicator/Nick Mays

Photo

Pitcher Kyle Smith (32) of the Scrappers keeps his eye on the base runner as he tries to field a bunt attempt Sunday afternoon.

Mahoning Valley rallied from a 7-5 deficit for the ninth-inning win.

By Greg Gulas

NILES — Jordan Henry’s bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning produced the winning run as the Mahoning Valley Scrappers rallied for an 8-7 victory over Williamsport.

Greg Folgia scored the winning run in New York-Penn League action Sunday at Eastwood Field.

In a game that featured 21 hits, 11 walks, four wild pitches, two hit batsmen and three players who reached base on error, it was only fitting that the team with the last at-bat rally for the victory in a game that featured more twists than Chubby Checker on stage when dancing to his signature song.

“It just sounds like typical Rookie League baseball,” Scrappers manager Travis Fryman said.

“If the truth be told, we were very fortunate to win tonight simply because we haven’t been playing that well over the last 12 days or so.

“We have some issues that we need to address and they are more mental than physical,” Fryman said. “As far as I am concerned, reliever Vidal Nuno was our standout tonight.

“He pitched four strong innings of shutout ball, allowed just two hits while striking five but picking us up when we really needed a lift,” Fryman said.

“He came here under the radar and has done a great job when we called on him. He has no fear and always believes that he can get the job done. I like that attitude.” Fryman said.

Nuno, a native of National City, Calif., and a 48th round draft pick in the 2009 Amateur Draft, was celebrating his 22nd birthday and said he was pleased with his performance.

Down 3-1 when he replaced starter Kyle C. Smith in the top of the third inning, Nuno wanted to keep the Crosscutters at bay with the hopes that the Scrappers could mount some offense after falling behind by three runs in the opening frame.

“All I wanted to do was throw strikes in order to keep them [Williamsport] in check,” Nuno said. “This is my first year here so I am still in the learning ropes, but to win, especially on your birthday and then play such a part in that win is so very special to me.”

The Crosscutters (20-17 and with the loss, now two games now behind Mahoning Valley for the lead in the Pinckney Division) sent seven men to the plate in the first inning, rapping out four hits including two doubles and a triple as they forged the early 3-0 advantage.

The Scrappers added solo runs in the second and third innings. The first came on a solo home run by Kyle Bellows in the second inning and the second was on a run-scoring single by Jason Smit in the third frame.

Chun Chen’s two-run double in the bottom of the fifth gave Mahoning Valley a 4-3 margin, a lead that would stand up until the top of the eighth when the Crosscuttters’ Darin Ruf singled home Leandro Castro to knot the game at 4-all.

Castro, who went 4-for-5, was a thorn in the Scrappers’ side all night as he registered two doubles, scored twice and had two runs batted in.

Mahoning Valley took a 5-4 lead in their half of the eighth when Folgia scored on a wild pitch.

But Castro’s double in the top half of the ninth inning keyed a three-run uprising as the Crosscutters took a 7-5 lead over Mahoning Valley heading to the Scrappers’ final at-bat.

The Scrappers (22-15) then scored three times in the bottom of the inning without the benefit of a hit, in fact scoring their last four runs of the game (three on walks and the other on a wild pitch) without lifting the bat off their shoulders for the two-game sweep of the Crosscutters.

“This was a pretty crazy game but one in which I am glad we were able to come out on top,” Henry said. “My mind set when I went up to the plate was to make sure that the pitcher threw strikes.

“I knew he was struggling so I just wanted to be patient. It’s good to get the sweep, especially at home,” Henry said.

It was the fourth time this season that Mahoning Valley has swept a series at Eastwood Field and the first time that they swept an opponent in a two-game set.

Last season, when they went 31-44 and finished in fifth-place in the Pinckney Division, the Scrappers swept just one home series and that came against the State College Spikes on Aug 3-4.

The Scrappers are on a four-game road trip, playing two games each at Batavia (beginning tonight) and then Auburn before returning home Friday to face the Muckdogs in the first game of a four-game homestand.

WilliamsportScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

Collier lf5100Henry cf3111

Schoenb 3b5000Smith ss4210

Castro rf5242Smit rf5121

Valle c5221Chen dh4012

Barnes ss4122Bellows 3b5221

Hewitt dh4011Carlson 1b5000

Ruf 1b5011Folgia lf2200

Buschini 2b3010Frawley 2b3021

Uhl cf3010Aponte c3000

Totals387127Totals34897

Williamsport300000013—7

Scrappers011020013—8

E—Schoenberger (3), Smit (3), Kyle Smith (2). DP—Williamsport 2. LOB—Williamsport 9, Scrappers 12. 2B—Castro 2 (9), Valle (11), Buschini (2), Henry (7), Chen (9), Smit (8). 3B—Barnes (3). HR—Bellows (4).

IPHRERBBSO

Williamsport

Lebron41‚Ñ364423

Wertz22‚Ñ310020

Long L, 1-212‚Ñ324473

Scrappers

Kyle C. Smith253001

Nuno420015

Hubbard H, 111‚Ñ311120

Sturd. BS, 1; W, 1-112‚Ñ343314

WP—Lebron, Long 2, Sturdevant. Balk—Nuno. HBP—Aponte (by Lebron), Uhl (by Sturdevant).Umpires—Home, Ben Lindquist; Bases, Jose Rivera. T—3:09. A—2,551.