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Scrappers: Ascent to the top
Chase Burnette’s homer, Andrew Kinney’s double and solid pitching from starter Jordan Cooper helped the Scrappers tie for first.
By pete mollica
Niles
For the first time in almost two weeks, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers are above the .500 percent mark on the season.
More importantly, they are tied for first place in the Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League.
The Scrappers (8-7) produced just three hits, but one was a solo home run by Chase Burnette in the sixth inning. That turned out to be the deciding run in a 2-1 victory over the Jamestown Jammers before 3,300 fans at Eastwood Field.
Scrappers starting pitcher Jordan Cooper threw six outstanding innings, allowing the Jammers just four hits while facing just 22 batters.
Cooper’s only mistake was giving up a solo second inning home run to Sequoyah Stonecipher. Cooper was never in trouble any other time and retired the Jammers (8-7) in order four of the six innings he pitched.
“I’d definitely like to have that pitch back,” said Cooper of the homer by Stonecipher. “But overall, I was pretty happy with my outing tonight.
”I had good location and was backed up by a great defense,” Cooper said. “I’m still learning a lot and I could see great progress over my first two starts of the season.”
Cooper (1-1) struck out four batters and didn’t issue a walk in his six innings.
But he wasn’t the only Mahoning Valley pitcher to have success against the Jammers as the three relief pitchers wjo followed him kept the Jammers scoreless over the final three innings, allowing one hit.
Dale Dickerson, Clayton Ehlert and Nick Kirk all answered the call when they were needed.
Jamestown starter Holden Sprague held the Scrappers to just three hits over five and two-thirds innings, but one of those hits was Burnette’s solo homer into the Scrappers’ bullpen in right field in the sixth frame.
“I really wasn’t looking for anything special up there,” Burnette said. “The first two times I batted, I hit the first pitch so this time I took the first pitch and then waited and he threw me one I really liked.
“We’ve has some really good pitching these last few games,” Burnette said. “Anytime you can get three hits and win the game, you’ve had some good pitching.”
The Jammers got on the scoreboard first in the second inning on Stonecipher’s solo shot over the left-field fence.
The Scrappers tied the game in the bottom half of the inning after Tyler Cannon walked with one out and then came around to score on a double in the right-center gap by Andrew Kinney.
Neither team threatened until the sixth when Burnette ripped one off the back wall of the Scrappers bullpen in right field.
Other than the home run the Scrappers’ pitchers allowed, only one other Jammer baserunner got as far as third base, that coming in the fifth before Cooper retired the side.
In addition to Burnett’s homer and Kinney’s double, the only other Scrappers hit was a fourth inning single by catcher Wyatt Toregas.
The two team will meet in the third and final game of the series tonight at 7:05 at Eastwood Field before the Scrappers leave for a three-game series against the Connecticut Tigers. That series begins Sunday evening.
—JamestownScrappers
abrhbiabrhbi
Brantley lf4010Casas cf4000
Mueck4000Fontanez 2b4000
Fisher 3b4010Toregas c3010
Ozuna cf4000Montero c1000
Woost dh 3010Burnette lf3111
Stnciphr4111Cannon ss2100
Dudley 1b3000Kinney 1b3011
Hord c3000Urshela 3b3000
Poulk 2b2000Moncrief rf3000
Rucker rf0000
Heere lf9000
Totals35141Totals25222
Jamestown010000000—1
Scrappers01000100x—2
E—Fisher (5). DP—None. LOB—Jamestown 5, Scrappers 4. 2B—Kinney (2). HR—Stonecipher (1), Burnette (1). SB—Casas (1). CS—Brantley (1).
IPHRERBBSO
Jamestown
Sprague L, 1-15.232211
Morales1.100001
Brady100000
Scrappers
Cooper W, 1-1641104
Dickerson H, 1100000
Ehlert H, 11.210012
Kirk S, 30.110010
Umpires—Home, Mike Patterson; Bases, Robert Porter. T—2:05. A—3,300.