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Palacios’ home run gives Scrappers lead in suspended game
By Steve ruman
NILES
The Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Batavia Muckdogs on Thursday spent more than three hours waiting, then playing, then waiting some more.
In the end, the only result was a partially-played game which will be decided today.
The start of Thursday’s scheduled game between the New York-Penn League Pinkney Division rivals was delayed for nearly two hours due to a line of heavy rain which moved through Niles just prior to the scheduled 7:05 start.
The two teams managed to play four innings before a second line of rain moved through the area, forcing the suspension of play.
By Minor League Baseball rules, the two teams will complete the game today, beginning at 5:05.
When play resumes, Mahoning Valley will take a 3-0 lead into the top of the fifth inning.
Approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game, the two teams will play their regularly-scheduled conclusion to the three-game series.
Mahoning Valley has a lead today thanks in part to Richard Palacios’ first home run of the year. The Scrappers’ designated hitter belted a two-out solo shot over the right field wall in the bottom of the first inning.
The Scrappers added a pair of runs in the second inning on an Angel Lopez double which plated Clark Scolamiero, followed by a Gabriel Mejia RBI sacrifice fly.
Scrappers starting pitcher Alex Royalty made his professional debut Thursday after being selected by the Cleveland Indians in the eighth round of the June draft out of UNC Wilmington. The righty worked three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit while recording four strikeouts.
Adam Scott worked in relief of Royalty and pitched just the fourth inning before the rains returned. Scott worked a perfect inning, striking out a pair of batters. He was scheduled to pitch three innings.
Scott, a fourth-round pick out of Wofford, also made his first professional appearance.
Thursday’s on-again, off-again game didn’t dampen the spirits of Scrappers first baseman Mitch Reeves, who is batting .309 on the year and leads the league in runs batted in (15) and has a team-high three home runs.
“You just have to come to the ballpark every day ready to play, ready to take on anything that comes your way,” Reeves said. “You can’t worry about the weather, about if you’re in the lineup, anything like that. You don’t worry about what you can’t control and you’re better off.”
“It’s all a part of baseball.”
Reeves said he is “extremely excited” about the fast start to the season.
“It’s been a very positive, strong start both for me individually and for the team,” Reeves said. “We’ve done a lot of good things, we’ve been pretty consistent. The really positive thing is that anytime we’ve lost, we’ve bounced back the next day.”
“To respond to a setback each time like we have, that’s a really good sign.”
The Scrappers (13-5) own the best record in the NYPL.