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Scrappers blanked in NYPL’s battle of the best
NILES
Thursday’s game between the top-two teams in the New York-Penn League didn’t look that way as the West Virginia Black Bears shut out the Mahoning Valley Scrappers 5-0 at Eastwood Field.
West Virginia starter Ike Schlabach went six strong innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. He struck out four for the victory.
The Scrappers managed just three hits and struck out 11 times as opposed to two walks.
“Obviously we didn’t swing the bats the way we wanted to,” Scrappers manager Luke Carlin said. “I don’t think we should accept the lack of bats today but overall this is the first game we’ve seen where we didn’t have something going to be in the ballgame and we were a little bit out of it.”
On the opposite end, Mahoning Valley starter Francisco Perez’s pitching line didn’t look great. He allowed five runs (four of them earned), six hits and two home runs in five‚Öîinnings.
At the start, West Virginia had a couple ground balls find holes to get to the outfield and then Tristan Gray launched a ball over the right-field wall.
Carlin thought he was more unlucky than poor.
“I thought Francisco pitched better than the scoreboard showed,” Carlin said. “He had a rough first but he got through six pretty well.”
Six Scrapper hitters, including pinch-hitter Jesse Berardi who had one at bat, struck out at least once in the contest.
Getting into the Black Bears bullpen didn’t make any difference. Beau Sulser, who relieved Schlabach, struck out five in his two innings of work.
“No harsh message,” Carlin said. “Just ‘Get your rest tonight because we’ve got another game tomorrow.’”
One of the bright spots for the Black Bears was Gift Ngoepe. The Pietersburg, South Africa, native made headlines earlier this year when we became the first African born player to reach the majors when he debuted for the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 26. He’s now rehabbing with the Black Bears with a hamstring injury.
He went 2-for-4 Thursday, scoring two runs, one of which came on an opposite-field blast in the top of the fifth. Carlin said he was glad his guys get to experience some Major League talent.
“It’s good,” Carlin said. “Better competition is advantageous for us to play against,” Carlin said. “Playing against the best will help us get better. It’s a challenge and as an organization we like that.”
Tuesday, Ngoepe went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first game with West Virginia. Thursday he said he felt more into his groove.
“I’m getting back to it,” Ngoepe said. “The first day my timing was a little off and I had a couple pop-ups that should have been line drives.
“Today I took a lot of pitches. One guy got me a changeup on a 3-2 pitch when I was expecting fastball, but it was a solid day.”
Ngoepe also played a solid defensive game, charging numerous ground balls and getting runners at first.
“My hamstring is a lot better,” Ngoepe said. “I can go about 95-100 right now. I didn’t have any problems catching any ground balls or running. It’s going to be tight every now and then but I’m feeling good.”
Despite the lack of output, Carlin said he’s not worried about his team with the way they’ve been playing so far this season.
“I’m really happy,” Carlin said. “This is a good group of guys. The pitching has been outstanding and guys have been aggressive.”