Scrappers edge Renegades in ninth

By Kevin Connelly

kconnelly@vindy.com

NILES

On a night the Mahoning Valley Scrappers honored its 15-year history before the game, the current group of Scrappers waited until the end of the game to add to the celebration.

After struggling at the plate for most of the night, the Scrappers got three hits in the bottom of the ninth with the last one driving in two runs to cap off a 3-2 comeback win over the Hudson Valley Renegades in a New York-Penn League game Friday night.

Trailing by one run, with one out and runners on first and second, Paul Hendrix slapped a ball to the right-field corner that rolled all the way to the wall, allowing Nellie Rodriguez and Josh McAdams to come around and score.

“If the pitch came in my zone, I was going to attack it,” Hendrix said. “It happened to be the first one and I just put a good swing on it.”

Hendrix had three of the Scrappers’ 10 hits on the night, giving his skipper a good feeling about having him at the plate in that situation.

“Paul was hot all night,” Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak said. “He’s had some nights where he’s struggled, but tonight he hit the ball really well three or four times.”

Scrappers starter Caleb Hamrick allowed just one run in his five innings. After a rough start to the season, he’s now given up just two runs in his last 10 innings.

“[Hamrick] has pitched really well,” Kubiak said. “His last two starts have been really good. He’s throwing strikes and that’s really all you can ask from a 19-year-old kid right out of high school.”

Hamrick gave up a third-inning home run to the Renegades’ James Harris on a fastball Kubiak said was too high in the zone.

Ben Heller and Briely Puerta combined to throw four innings in relief for the Scrappers. Heller allowed an unearned run on third baseman Claudio Bautista’s throwing error in the sixth inning.

“As long as they keep us in the game we always have a chance to come back and win,” Hendrix said. “So it’s real good when they keep us close like they did tonight.”

Bautista also saw his 10-game hitting streak snapped Friday, going 0 for 4 with a strikeout.

A crowd of 3,645 came expecting to see a post-game fireworks show. What they saw in the Scrappers’ last at-bat was just an added bonus.

“I don’t know when we’ve done that before to be honest with you,” Kubiak said of the walk-off win. “It worked out perfectly the way it ended up, of course.

“We’re not gonna score a lot of runs, but you have to go out there with that optimism that we’re gonna win.”

Before the game, the Scrappers inducted their inaugural Hall of Champions Class as part of their 15th season celebration. The inaugural class of inductees included William M. Cafaro, Niles Mayor Ralph Infante, former players Victor Martinez and CC Sabathia, and former general manager Andy Milovich.

The second game of the series is tonight at 7:05.