Lewis, Rutschman to take on Scrappers

Staff report

Niles

A familiar face will return to Trumbull County today.

Craig Lewis, a 2016 Howland graduate, is an outfielder for the Aberdeen Ironbirds and recently made his professional baseball debut.

Aberdeen will be at Eastwood Field for a three-game series with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. It will be the only meeting between the two teams this season.

Lewis was named First Team All-District his senior season and All-American Conference Red Tier Conference Co-Player of the Year. He signed with the Orioles as the first pick in the 33rd round of the 2019 MLB Draft.

During the 2019 season with Seton Hill University, Lewis batted .435 with a .517 on-base percentage and eight RBIs as a redshirt sophomore.

The Howland product played 18 games in the Golf Coast League Orioles before his call-up on Wednesday. In four games with the IronBirds, Lewis is hitting .333 (5 for 15) with two runs scored.

Lewis isn’t the player of interest from the Orioles organization playing in the series.

Orioles catching prospect Adley Rutschman, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, also will be on the IronBirds roster.

Rutschman was drafted June 3. He signed with the club, including a MLB record $8.1 million signing bonus, on June 24.

He played in five games in the GCL before moving up to Aberdeen. He had three hits in 14 at-bats, including a home run in his first professional game.

In two games with Aberdeen, Rustchman is hitting .222 (2 for 9).

Rutschman won the Golden Spikes Award as the top amateur player in the country this year after hitting .411 as a junior for Oregon State.

As a sophomore, Rutschman hit .408 and helped lead the Beavers to the 2018 College World Series title.

The Scrappers concluded a three-game road trip to Auburn, N.Y. Mahoning Valley took two games against the Doubledays, and are winners of four of its last six games.

The series with the IronBirds concludes on Thursday. First pitch of the series opener is today at 7:05 p.m.