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Scrappers rally to beat Vermont
Photo
Geoffrey Hauschild|The Vindicator .Vermont Lake Monster, Blake Kelso, arrives safely at second base after Mahoning Valley Scrapper, Kevin Fontanez, tries to gain control of a ball thrown his way during the fifth inning at Eastwood Field on Thursday evening.
By JOE SCALZO
NILES
With his team down one run in the bottom of the ninth inning and a restless crowd hoping for something good to happen in their sports world, Scrappers outfielder Carlos Moncrief shook off a two-strike count, tried to relax and focused on one thing.
“I knew I couldn’t strike out,” he said. “That’s what I knew.”
He hit a grounder deep to short, tore down the first base line and beat the throw by a step, tying the game.
The Vermont Lake Monsters did the rest.
Vermont pitcher Dustin Crane threw three straight wild pitches — the last one soaring over his catcher’s head — as Moncrief slid home to give Mahoning Valley a 6-5 victory Thursday night at Eastwood Field.
“It was very reminiscent of last year’s club,” said Scrappers manager Travis Fryman, whose team advanced to the New York-Penn League championship series last summer. “We won a lot of games like that.”
The Scrappers trailed 5-3 entering the ninth but the Lake Monsters’ mistakes — which included three errors — finally caught up to them.
Moncrief had two hits for the Scrappers (10-10), while Chase Burnette and Wyatt Toregas each added two hits and two runs on a night where northeast Ohio sports fans didn’t have much to cheer about.
Fryman, who played third base for the Indians from 1998-2002, doesn’t follow other sports but as a former Cleveland professional athlete, he said he was disappointed with LeBron James’ decision.
“My opinion doesn’t mean squat but I always admired guys like [Tigers shortstop] Alan Trammel, a guy that spends his whole career with one organization,” Fryman said. “Loyalty means to me, you give up something on both sides. A team has got to pay the guy fairly, but as a player you’ve got to give something back to the organization.
“I like the idea of, ‘Hey we’re going to win here, we’re going to lose here, but I’m a Cleveland Cavalier.’ I like that mentality. I felt that way when I was in Detroit until somebody traded me.”
Fryman played for the Tigers from 1990-97 before he was traded to the Indians.
“It’s a great place to play,” Fryman said of Cleveland. “They’ve got great sports fans. Fans like that, they deserve a winner every now and then. Every 50 years or so.
“Hopefully someone will give it to them sooner rather than later. Hopefully it’ll be the Indians.”
The Scrappers entered Thursday’s game having lost three of their last four games, while the Lake Monsters (15-5) had the NYPL’s best record.
“We ask our guys to play hard,” said Fryman. “We don’t have a lot of offense but we’ve got to take advantage of other team’s mistakes.
“I appreciate the effort tonight.”
VermontScrappers
abrhbiabrhbi
Mzingo cf5010Casas cf5010
Kelso 2b5021Cannon ss5000
King 3b4111Toregas c4220
Mldenh dh5112Burnett dh3221
Martns ss4110Urshela 3b5101
Moore rf3000Moncrf rf5121
Leonid c3010Fontnez 2b3011
Labrie 1b2001Kinney 1b4010
Miller lf4220Heere lf2000
Totals35595Totals36694
Vermont201010010—5
Scrappers000030003—6
Two out when winning run scored
E—Hansen (1), Martinson (4), Moore (1), Fontanez (3). LOB —Vermont 9, Scrappers 13. 2B—Leonida (1), Miller (3), Martinson (3), Toregas (1), Burnette (6). HR—Moldenhauer (5). SB—Kelso (3), Fontanez (3).
IPHRERBBSO
Vermont
Hansen4 2-353245
McCatty2 1-300012
Demmin110001
Crane L, 1-12-333320
Scrappers
Cooper4 2-364414
Reichenbach2 1-310022
Nkmura W, 2-0221110
WP—Hensen, Crane 3, Cooper 2. Umpires—Home, Dane Ratajski; Bases, Roberto Ortiz. T—3:06. A—3,156.