Wiseman leads Doubledays in rain-shortened win over MV

By Steve ruman

sports @vindy.com

NILES

On Thursday, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers recognized Throwback Thursday with a 4-3, come-from-behind win over Auburn in front of a near-capacity crowd. The comeback victory in front of energized fans had the feel of an evening of baseball at Eastwood Field, 1999-style.

On Fallback Friday, the Scrappers fell back into a routine which has plagued the team since 2012.

Over the past three-plus seasons, the Scrappers own the worst home record in the New York-Penn League. They haven’t won back-to-back games at Eastwood Field since last July 18-21 when they strung together four straight victories. And, rain has frequented Niles seemingly during every homestand throughout the stretch.

The trend continued Friday when the Scrappers (9-17, 2-9 at home) fell to the Doubledays 6-3 in a game shortened to seven innings, courtesy of a thunderstorm which dumped heavy rains on Niles.

The Doubledays broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run seventh. After the Scrappers were retired in order in their half of the inning, a strong rain forced players and fans to scurry for cover. Following a 45-minute wait, the umpires made the game official.

Auburn’s offense was sparked by right fielder Rhett Wiseman, a 21-year-old who selected in the third round of the June draft by the Washington Nationals.

Wiseman is a product of Vanderbilt University.

Wiseman belted a towering two-run home run to right field in the first inning to give the Doubledays a 2-0 lead. In the seventh, he had an RBI single as part of the Doubledays’ three-run spurt.

“It felt good to contribute, I really felt like I needed to start contributing and stepping up my game, so hopefully tonight’s momentum will carry on,” Wiseman said. “As a team, we did some good things at the plate in key situations.”

Wiseman, a native of Mansfield, Mass., spent three years in the Vanderbilt program. He played 54 games during his freshman year, batted .277 with 30 RBIs. As a sophomore he was named to the College World Series All-Tournament Team as the Commodores won the national title. He finished up his career by batting .317 with 19 doubles, 15 home runs and 49 RBIs as Vanderbilt was the runner-up in the College World Series to Virginia.

“I chose to play at Vanderbilt because I wanted to play for a winning program, and things couldn’t have played out any better than they did,” Wiseman said. “My college career, it was one dream come true after another.”

Wiseman and his Vanderbilt teammates had just beaten Illinois in a super regional and were on a long bus ride home when he got a call telling him he was drafted by the Nationals.

“Talk about an emotional trip,” Wiseman said. “Three of my teammates were drafted on the first day, then I got the call the second day, and at the same time we were heading to the College World Series. Looking back, it was all such a blur.”

When Wiseman’s collegiate career came to an end, he headed home for about 10 days before signing his professional contract and joining his Auburn teammates.

“It’s been a crazy month,” Wiseman said. “Baseball is such a game of routine. You get into a major routine in college for three years, then in the blink of an eye you’re playing every day at this level. It’s quite an eye-opener.”

The Scrappers now hit the road for a three-game series at Williamsport.