Scrappers enjoy lark for Bark at the Park

July 21, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

NILES

They say every dog has its day, and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers made sure they got the most they could out of theirs.

The Scrappers’ offensive showcase on Sunday had more than a few tails wagging at Eastwood Field. The home team trounced the visiting Aberdeen Ironbirds 14-3 at the club’s Bark at the Park event, which featured plenty of man’s best friends in the stands.

The fans barked in delight as the Scrappers (14-22) ripped 16 hits.

A run in the first and fourth inning was enough to get the crowd of 2,407 salivating. But it was a three-run sixth and nine-run seventh inning that had them howling and left the Ironbirds (10-25) with their tails between their legs.

The Scrappers batted around in the seventh inning, amassing half of their hits. What started with a lazy single to right field by Bradley Zimmer had the Ironbirds playing fetch for almost a half hour.

Zimmer said with the dog days of summer approaching, a lot of the Scrappers players are finding their groove offensively.

“You hear the term that hitting is contagious, and I think it showed today,” Zimmer said.

Did it ever.

The half inning produced three singles, three doubles, a triple and a home run for the home team. Zimmer added one of the doubles for his second hit of the inning.

But the paws-down exclamation point was a two-run shot by catcher Francisco Mejia that towered over the left-field wall.

Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak said it’s not so much about hitting being contagious as it is work ethic being rewarding.

“I’m not a fan of the phrase ‘hitting is contagious.’ ” Kubiak said. “I think guys just hit against the pitching they’re facing.”

Kubiak added that some of the players are pressing less and letting their natural abilities take over.

“I’d like to think they’re in a different frame of mind,” Kubiak said. “We’ve worked on a lot of stuff and have tried to kind of pull back from telling them a lot of stuff because I think that makes them think about a lot of stuff.

“So we’ve just tried to simplify things, more or less, just ‘see the ball, hit the ball.’ ”

Also seeing the ball well were Steven Patterson, Josh McAdams and Yonathan Mendoza. Each had multiple hits.

Hitting coach Phil Clark said the club is starting to notice guys gaining confidence in their at-bats.

“I think it’s that time of the year when they’re getting acclimated to pro ball,” Clark said.

Kubiak said the real proof will be how things turn out at the end of the season.

“I’m more interested in looking at what they’re doing the last two weeks of the season,” he said. “Then I can give you a better read of what is actually going on.”

The Scrappers will finish their series with the Ironbirds tonight at Eastwood Field.