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Christmas in July party flops on the basepaths
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Scrappers infielder Aaron Fields fi res to first base as Spikes baserunner Gift Ngoepe tries to break up the play in Sunday’s game at Eastwood Field in Niles.
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Scrappers baserunner Kevin Fontanez beats the tag of Spikes infielder Matt Curry during Sunday’s game in Niles.
Scrappers notebook | From Eastwood Field
Merry Christmas: Fans traded in their ball caps and baseball gloves for stocking hats and mittens. The Mahoning Valley Scrappers celebrated “Christmas in July” at Eastwood Field. Employees donned Santa hats and jingle bells. And jolly old St. Nick even made a guest appearance. Christmas carols and other holiday tunes played over the loudspeaker to help inspire a festive feel for the game against the State College Spikes. Mascot Scrappy even got in on the action by wearing a special outfit: a pair of red Santa pants and a matching cap. The stadium was decorated with a Christmas tree at the main entrance, and fans were given presents in the form of gift bags as they entered the building. Santa even threw out the first pitch. After shaking off a sign from the catcher, he tossed an offspeed pitch right into the glove. The Scrappers wore their regular home jerseys, but State College coincidentally wears red tops.
New faces: Two players were added to the Scrappers roster for Sunday’s game. Infielder Justin Toole and catcher Richard Martinez had played for Kinston prior to joining Mahoning Valley.
Jon Moffett
By JON MOFFETT
Niles
The Scrappers must have been bad, because they didn’t get any presents this Christmas.
Instead, the team was given a lump of coal on the scoreboard in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to State College at Eastwood Field during the club’s “Christmas in July” promotion.
Coincidentally enough, the game’s only run came off the bat of Gift Ngoepe. After a ground-rule double in the sixth inning, Ngoepe crossed the plate on a triple by Adalberto Santos.
And along with Christmas in Whoville, the Grinch seems to have stolen the Mahoning Valley offense. The Scrappers (14-23) had eight hits, but couldn’t capitalize. They’ve scored three runs in the last four games, all losses.
“We’ve got some real issues swinging the bat, obviously,” manager Travis Fryman said. “This is pretty feeble right now.”
Perhaps most frustrating is the Scrappers’ inability to cash in with runners in scoring position. The team was 0-for-5 in those situations and stranded five runners.
Not even a gift from the Spikes (19-18) was appreciated.
Third baseman Giovanny Urshela led off the bottom of the ninth with a ground-rule double near the first-base seats. The ball possibly could’ve been a triple had it stayed in play.
After Chase Burnette struck out swinging, Carlos Moncrief’s groundout moved Urshela to third where he would stay.
Diego Seastrunk lined out to first base in his pinch-hit appearance to end the game.
Asked if advancing runners in scoring position was an ongoing issue, Fryman was very blunt.
“Well, we’re hitting .220 as a team; that’s an issue,” he said. “ We’re the lowest team batting average in the league and have the second-worst pitching in the league. That’s a bad combination.”
The Scrappers let a good pitching performance go by the wayside. Starter Alex Kamisky pitched six innings and gave up the one run on four hits. He struck out two and walked one.
Kaminsky (4-2) played at Wright State University, and played games against Youngstown State in the Horizon League at Eastwood Field.
The Scrappers were stymied by the trio of arms from State College. Starter Casey Sadler was relieved after three innings, having given up four hits and striking out one.
His replacement, Brooks Pounders, also pitched three innings with a strikeout, but allowed two hits. Jhonathan Ramos earned his first save of the year with his three innings of work. He gave up two hits and struck out a pair.
On a night when the Scrappers’ pitching is dealing, the hitters need to step up, Fryman said.
“Alex pitched a great game, and he has all year for us,” Fryman said. “When you get good pitching, you hate to waste it.”
Fryman stressed that although the season is almost at its halfway point, attitudes remain positive and morale is high. He said his team needs to focus on its strengths to turn the season around.
“When you don’t swing the bats very well, you have to capitalize on the opportunities you do get,” he said. “We don’t hit the ball out of the park very much, and we’re not a particularly fast club, so it’s hard to generate things on offense. But we try to make the most of what we can do.”
State CollegeScrappers
abrhbiabrhbi
Rojas cf 3000Heere lf4020
Ngoep 2b4120Fontan ss4020
Santos rf4011Urshela 3b4020
Curry 1b4000Burnett dh4000
Lyles 3b4000Moncrf cf4000
Gourle ss3000Toole 1b3000
Irvine lf3010Sstrunk ph1000
Skirving c3000Rucker rf3000
Rodrig dh3000Martinz c3010
Fields 2b3010
Totals31141Totals33080
State College000001000—1
Scrappers000000000—0
E—Curry (4), Heere (4). LOB—State College 4, Scrappers 6. 2B—Ngoepe (9), Urshela (5). 3B—Santos (4).
IPHRERBBSO
State College
Sadler340001
Pounders W, 2-2320001
Ramos S, 1320002
Scrappers
Kaminsky L, 4-2641112
Reichenbach200003
Ehiert100001
Umpires—Home, Dane Ratajski; Bases, Roberto Ortiz. T—2:11. A—2,907.