Goihl helps Scrappers ride out Cyclones

July 25, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

NILES

Jack Goihl grew up playing catcher in Robbinsdale, Minn., just a short drive from where Joe Maurer carved out an All-Star career with the Twins.

Was he a fan?

“Well, I had to be,” he said, grinning. “Of course I was. He was Minnesota’s hero.”

Like Mauer, Goihl spent much of his career playing indoors, although in Goihl’s case, he spent just as much time catching baseballs off hardwood floors as dirt diamonds.

“It’s tough,” he said. “There’s a lot of gym time. You just do what you can, shoveling snow off the infield and being patient.”

That patience has served him well in his first summer as a professional. A 28th-round pick in June’s draft, Goihl has appeared in just seven games with the Scrappers and entered Friday’s contest with one hit in 19 at-bats. But he singled in his first trip to the plate in the third inning against Brooklyn and came around to score his first professional run.

He also threw out two Cyclones trying to steal second helping Mahoning Valley hold on for a 4-3 victory in a New York-Penn League game at Eastwood Field.

Afterward, manager Travis Fryman pulled him aside in the dugout to whisper some encouragement.

“Jack’s role is a limited role,” Fryman said. “But he has two wins this week against two good teams and as a coach, you like to see that because he doesn’t get to play much. He’s a likeable guy, also, so I like to keep him encouraged.”

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Goihl also grew up playing hockey (of course) and started working behind the plate when he was 7. He spent the last three years at Division II Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., where he batted .368 in 190 career games, including more than 100 over the last two years. (He betrays his upper midwest accent when he says Dakota with a very long “o”.)

While Li-Jen Chu (20 games) and Daniel Salters (17 games) are the Scrappers’ regular starters at catcher, games like Friday’s can only help Goihl get more playing time.

“I love being part of the game, touching the ball on every pitch,” he said. “Calling the game from the catcher position is like nothing else. You’re really managing the game from back there.”

Goihl got plenty of opportunities to do that Friday as Scrappers pitchers gave up seven hits and seven walks. Brock Hartson (2-0) got the win by pitching 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, pitching around three hits and three walks thanks to four strikeouts.

Closer Yoiber Marquina got his second save, pitching a scoreless ninth by striking out the final two batters after the Cyclones put runners on second and third.

“The last 10 days or so we’ve been pitching quite a bit better,” Fryman said. “They’re beginning to throw more strikes and as a result we’ve been in a position to win more ballgames. That’s a credit to the effort from our players working to make adjustments and a credit to [pitching coach] Greg [Hibbard] in communicating to them what those adjustments are and finding a way to bring it into the game.”

Sam Haggerty had two hits, a RBI and a run for Mahoning Valley (14-19) while Emmanuel Tapia had a big two-run single in the third inning when Mahoning Valley took a 4-1 lead.