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Scrappers wash away past
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Jamestown infielder Erik Lunde shows the ball to the umpire after tagging out Scrappers baserunner D’Vone McClure during Sunday’s New York-Penn League game at Eastwood Field.
NILES
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers will take a win any way they can get one these days.
In the series finale with the Jamestown Jammers Sunday night, that meant waiting through an hour-and-10-minute rain delay only to have the game called after eight-plus innings.
Since the Scrappers led 8-3 when the rain struck with one out in the top of the eighth, the game was official when the umpires called it because of unplayable field conditions.
“You always want to play more, but unfortunately the weather conditions kind of stopped that today,” Scrappers center fielder Greg Allen said. “It was nice to get out with a W, which I think was definitely the main focus.”
The win snapped a four-game skid for the Scrappers (6-11).
The loss puts the Jammers (8-9) a game under .500 , after they had won five straight.
Cameron Hill, the Cleveland Indians’ 17th-round draft pick, had his second good start in a row. He threw four innings, allowing just two baserunners on a hit and a walk, and struck out two. He lowered his ERA to 1.00 and hasn’t allowed a run in his past eight innings of work.
“He worked fast, was over the plate, got ahead of hitters and that’s the secret,” Scrappers manger Ted Kubiak said.
Hill got plenty of help from his offense early. Allen led off with a ground-rule double and came around to score on Francisco Mejia ground out. The next three Scrappers singled and two more runs crossed the plate to give Hill a 3-0 after one inning.
D’vone McClure led off the second with a double and later scored on a Austin Fisher single. The Scrappers held a 4-0 advantage through two innings, after scoring just seven runs total the previous two games.
“Our offense had a different sound tonight, because we hit the ball pretty hard,” Kubiak said.
The longtime manager said he and team hitting coach Phil Clark sat down with the team prior to Sunday’s game to try and change their thinking.
He wasn’t upset with the way they had been playing, just their approach at the plate.
“They were doing certain things I didn’t want them to do anymore,” Kubiak said. “They’re all thinking about mechanics. They’re told a ton of stuff and I said ‘you can’t think when you’re in a game. That’s what you do in practice.”
On Sunday, the Scrappers didn’t think much of Jammers pitching, busting out for eight runs on 12 hits. They bounced starter Marek Minarik after five innings, scoring six runs on nine hits. Allen had two of the hits, both doubles, and scored on each of them.
“We were more aggressive, more confident up there at the plate,” said Allen, whose average climbed to .323 on the season.
“I felt like the guys took well to [the advice] and it was definitely able to pay off.”
The game was delayed after 2 hours and 10 minutes when lighting struck nearby and heavy rain began. Less than 30 minutes later, the skies cleared and the sun was shinning. But after the umpires walked the field with Kubiak and Jamestown manager Brian Esposito, they determined there were too many dangerous areas to continue play.
“I got a left fielder who we’re giving a lot of money to,” Kubiak said. “That’s always a concern with guys getting hurt.
“Wasn’t that big a deal, I didn’t think. I’ll take the win either way.”