43
Auburn pitchers toss 1-hitter in Eastwood opener
Photo
Scrappers batter Francisco Mejia loses the grip of his bat while swinging during Tuesday’s home opener against Auburn at Eastwood Field in Niles. Watching are umpire Mac Dietz and catcher Raudy Reed.
By Steve Ruman
NILES
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Auburn Doubledays have struggled at the plate to start the season.
The Scrappers were batting just .207 as a team through four games, while Auburn was at a league-low .182.
Not much changed Tuesday when the two teams met at Eastwood Field in the home opener for the Scrappers. The Scrappers’ lone run came on a wild pitch, while the Doubledays scored on a groundout and a bases-loaded walk.
The result was an Auburn 2-1 win in front of 5,492 fans.
The Scrappers and Doubledays share identical 2-3 records.
A trio of Auburn pitchers limited the Scrappers to just one hit. Jefry Rodriguez started and pitched five innings, giving up a third inning double to Scrappers second baseman Ordomar Valdez. After Valdez advanced to third on a groundout, he scored on a wild pitch.
Diebi Yrizarri relieved Valdez and worked two perfect innings. Mario Sanchez worked the final two innings, retiring six straight including two strikeouts.
The Doubledays scored single runs in the second and eighth innings.
“What can you say? It’s tough to win when you’re not hitting,” Scrappers manager Ted Kubiak said. “A lot of these guys, they’re just getting acclimated to the new level of play, and it takes them awhile to get on track.
“I always think that it takes about a month for a lot of these players to get in the groove. Sometimes it’s sooner, but right now it’s still a learning process.”
Auburn scored the game’s first run in the second inning when Juan Valdez led off with a double, advanced to third on a Cody Gunter single, then scored on a Brenton Allen groundout.
The Doubledays scored the game’s final run in the eighth off Scrappers reliever Dominic Demasi.
Garrett Gordon led off the frame with an infield single, then advanced to third on a Bryan Mejia double.
It looked like Demasi might get out of the jam after he recorded back-to-back strikeouts.
However, after issuing an intentional walk, he walked Juan Valdez to force in what proved to be the winning run.
Scrappers starter Anthony Vizcaya worked four innings, scattering five hits while striking out three. David Speer worked one scoreless inning, surrendering one hit, while Julian Merryweather worked a pair of scoreless innings before being relieved by Demasi.
Merryweather was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the fifth round of the June draft out of Oklahoma Baptist. He’s been with the Scrappers just five days and was making his professional debut.
“Julian looked really good out there. He looked like he had good power and a good feel for his changeup,” said Scrappers pitching coach Greg Hibbard. “I was impressed with his mechanics from what I saw. He definitely has great potential.”
Despite the fact he gave up the winning run, Hibbard was also impressed with Demasi’s performance.
“He was facing a second-and-third and nobody out situation right out of the gate and he showed a lot of poise to get two straight strikeouts,” Hibbard said. “We all thought he got squeezed a bit on the walk that scored a run. But again, he responded to record a strikeout to end the inning.”
“Overall, I thought [Demasi] did a nice job and showed something tonight.”
The Scrappers and Doubledays play the second of a three-game series tonight at 7:05.