43
State College power surge overwhelms Scrappers
By Steve Ruman
NILES
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers were able to dodge a strong line of afternoon thunderstorms which missed Niles on Sunday, but packed heavy punch over the majority of Trumbull County.
Unfortunately, the Scrappers were unable to avoid the thunder delivered by State College.
The Spikes used three two-run homers to beat the Scrappers, 8-5, in front of 2,099 weather-weary fans at Eastwood Field.
The loss cooled down the Scrappers (18-25), which had won 10 of 14 games prior to Sunday. The Spikes (30-13) own the second-best record in the New York-Penn League.
The game, played under the threat of a tornado watch, experienced a 30-minute lightning delay.
The Scrappers grabbed a brief lead in the fourth when Martin Cervenka led off with a double and scored on a Yonathan Mendoza single.
Scrappers starter Cameron Hill (0-1) worked four scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.24. But the bullpen proved to be a punching bag for the homer-happy Spikes.
State College tied the game at 1 in the fifth when Darren Seferina’s sacrifice fly drove in Nick Thompson.
The Spikes homered in each of the next three innings. Thompson, Collin Radack and Chase Raffield each homered with a man on base.
The Spikes have now hit a lead-leading 39 home runs in 43 games. The Scrappers have hit just 13.
“I like our lineup, it’s a combination of speed and power,” said Spikes manager Oliver Marmol. “We got some guys at the top of the lineup who can run a little bit and we got some guys who can hit it out of the park.”
The Scrappers and Spikes continue their three-game series tonight at 7:05.