Scrappers notebook | From Eastwood Field

Home sweet home: The Mahoning Valley Scrappers opened their home season in front of 5,099 fans. Though the number is somewhat short of the record 7,726 set in 1999, manager Travis Fryman said its always nice to play in front of such an energetic group. “It’s always tremendous,” he said. “In the three years I’ve been here, this has been a nice place to play. We’ve always had nice fan support.” He said the confines of Eastwood Fields are “a great place for your first introduction into professional baseball.”

Hit the showers: Prior to the first pitch being thrown, the sprinkler system in front of the visitors’ dugout mysteriously turned on and soaked a few of the Auburn Doubledays. The drizzle took several minutes to corral, and only happened on the opposition’s side of the field. Scrappers personnel laughed at the idea of sabotage and insisted the problem was coincidental.

How much wood: Fryman didn’t balk when asked if using a wooden bat, as opposed to aluminum, added to his team’s offensive funk. “That process will be taking place all summer,” he said. “It’s very difficult to learn.” He added that the bat isn’t as much to blame as the approach and the swing. “What we call a swing plane tends to be more uphill which you can get away with when you use an aluminum bat,” he said. “They’ll spend most of the summer learning how to swing a wood bat and learning how to improve their swing plane.” One of his players, Chase Burnette, said the transition is one that takes some getting used to. “There is a lot smaller of a sweet spot on a wood bat ... So there is a little bit of adjusting to it,” Burnette said. “But you just have to be more focused and square the ball up more.”

Jon Moffett