Two-out woes doom Scrappers

August 17, 2012 at 12:09a.m.

By STEVE WILAJ

NILES

The first two outs were no problem for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers.

But the third out was a different story.

The Auburn Doubledays scored eight runs with two outs Thursday night as they defeated the Scrappers 12-5 at Eastwood Field in front of 4,564 fans.

“It’s tough giving up hits and runs with two outs,” said Scrappers left fielder Hunter Jones. “But that’s baseball.”

The two-out woes began for the home team in the second inning.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the first on Joe Wendle’s RBI single, the Scrappers’ defense had two outs with a man on first.

But the struggle was only beginning for MV starting pitcher Luis Morel.

Following a single by Wes Schill, Doubleday centerfielder Narciso Mesa started the scoring with an RBI double. Schill then scored on a wild pitch, followed by RBI singles from Tony Renda and Shawn Pleffner.

That ended Morel’s night after only 12/3 innings. He gave up four earned runs on five hits.

“It was rough [for Morel], but we’re behind our pitchers 100 percent,” Jones said. “We tried to maintain our focus and keep on keepin’ on.”

The Scrappers (26-29) fought back in the bottom half of the second. Juan Romero’s RBI triple and Robel Garcia’s RBI single cut the deficit to 4-3.

However, the Doubledays’ (32-23) two-out magic was on display again in the fourth when Pleffner brought home two with a double.

And while the Scrappers closed the gap to 7-5 in the seventh inning, a final two-out knock in the ninth by Estarlin Martinez scored two more for the Doubledays.

“We started off hot and we felt good,” Jones said. “It became a long game and we may have got tired, a little lackadaisical, a little loss of focus.

“It was tough, but we’ll be back at it tomorrow. We feel good.”

The Scrappers still managed to pound out 10 hits. Jones and Wendle had two hits apiece, while Robel Garcia had three.

Pleffner paced the Doubledays with four hits and three RBIs, with teammate Renda collecting three hits as well.

Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak admitted he’s getting all too familiar with the high number of hits and runs every night.

“The way the game is today, it’s almost like you have to have more offense to beat the defense,” he said. “The game used to be all defense. You get a home run here and there. Now there’s so many miscues, and like today, no strikes.

“But you gotta keep battling and keep up with that.”

With the loss, the Scrappers fell six games behind the Doubledays, who lead the Pinckney Division of the New York Penn League.

AUBURN 12, SCRAPPERS 5

AuburnScrappers

abrhbiabrhbi

McQllan ss3200Kelly ss5111

Renda 2b5232Jones lf4120

Pleffner 1b6043Wendle 3b5022

Mrtinez lf6023Sever dh5010

Miller dh4100Lucas c2000

Ramos rf5110Siliga cf3100

Manuel c4120Romero rf4111

Schill 3b4221Gonzalez 1b4000

Mesa cf4311Garcia 2b4131

Totals41121510Totals365105

Auburn040201005—12

Scrappers120200000—5

E—Lee (1), Romero (2), Stokes (1). DP—Scrappers 1. LOB—Auburn 12, Scrappers 8. 2B—Mesa (3), Pleffner (14), Garcia (9). 3B—Jones (2), Romero (2). CS—Schill (3).

IPHRERBBSO

Auburn

Lee3 2-395423

Medina W, 1-3 2 1-310003

Boyden200010

Self100000

Scrappers

Morel L, 2-31 2-354421

Martin3 1-332235

Homblert351101

Stokes2-325031

Peoples1-300000

WP—Lee 2, Medina, Morel. HBP—Miller (by Stokes), Lucas (by Medina). Umpires—Home, Mike Bovine; Bases, Mike Wisemann. T—3:28. A—4,564.