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Mahoning Valley takes baseball spotlight
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Scrappers All-Stars Luis DeJesus, left, Jacob Lee and Joe Sever smile during the Class A New York-Penn League All-Star gala at Packard Music Hall in Warren. The 2012 All-Stars were announced at the event Monday.
By LARRY RINGLER
WARREN
With storied Packard Music Hall as the setting and Jeffrey Chrystal Catering of Youngstown and Blue Iris Cakery of Niles dishing out local dining flavors, the Mahoning Valley put itself on display Monday night.
“It’s a great event. It’ll do a lot for the area,” Mahoning Valley Scrappers Manager Ted Kubiak said during a gala at the music hall to introduce players for the first Class A New York-Penn League All-Star game set for tonight at Eastwood Field in the Eastwood Mall Complex.
Kubiak even offered an upbeat outlook for one thing area baseball leaders and restaurateurs can’t control — the weather — which is expected to threaten rain around the 7:35 p.m. game time.
“We have a great ground crew,” Kubiak said.
Surprisingly, the game is not sold out.
“We’ve been planning this for well over a year,” said Scrappers General Manager Jordan Taylor, noting that about 500 tickets remain. “It’s a great event to have here. This is a chance to showcase the area.”
Monday’s guests included 53 all-star players and 10 coaches from as far away as Staten Island, N.Y., and Burlington, Vt. They enjoyed beans and Italian greens, Polish perogies saut ed in carmelized onions and Greek shaved gyros meat cooked on a cherry wood-fired spit, topped off with gourmet cupcakes from the Blue Iris.
The five Scrappers named to the American League’s 28-player roster sounded eager to represent the home team after a half-season that left the team at 25-28, six games behind leader Auburn Doubledays in the Pinckney Division.
“To have five players representing the Mahoning Valley and be able to play at home will be really fun,” said Joe Sever, the Scrappers’ designated hitter who will compete in the home run derby set prior to the game.
Sever, who is a nephew of former minor league player and Denver Broncos quarterback great John Elway, said he wasn’t sure why he was chosen to represent the team in the home-run contest because he only has one homer.
Kubiak shed some light on the choice, saying, “he hits our [batting practice] pitcher, Craig Antush, real well.”
Other Scrapper players on the team are third baseman Joe Wendle, who has three homers, a .325 batting average and 25 runs batted in; pitchers Luis DeJesus and Jacob Lee; and catcher Charlie Valerio.
For ticket information, call the Scrappers at 330-505-0000.
The Scrappers’ regular season resumes on Wednesday when the Auburn Doubledays visit Eastwood Field.