Cutters nip Jammers in the 11th

As the Williamsport offense has struggled over the last two weeks, Crosscutters manager Chris Truby has been preaching the ability to score runners without a hit.

The Cutters executed that plan perfectly Monday night in the 11th inning against Jamestown. Alan Schoenberger capped the hitless inning and the Cutters comeback with a sacrifice fly to score Stephen Batts to give Williamsport a 2-1 win over the Jammers. It was the 18th one-run game for Williamsport this year, and the 11th win in one-run games.

Williamsport also moved to within one game of Mahoning Valley for first place in the Pinckney Division.

Because of the Cutters penchant for playing in one-run games, Truby has been putting extra emphasis on getting runners across the plate when they have the chance. They left the bases loaded in the second, left a runner on third in the third and the fifth, and left a runner on second in the seventh and eighth innings last night.

It wasn't until Schoenberger's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning with the bases that the Cutters were able to drive in a runner in scoring position. And the bases were loaded that inning because of two walks and an error.

"(Getting a runner in without a hit) has to be the biggest part of our offense," Schoenberger said. "Once you get a runner on, you have to get the bunt down, get him over and then you can look for a pitch up in the zone to get the barrel on to drive him in."

"If we can (score runs without hits), that's going to be the difference in these 2-1 and 4-3 games to sway the decision in our favor," Truby said. "A lot of the one-run games we've lost we missed out on opportunities. If we can convert those the majority of the time, I like our chances."

Maybe more so in the recent weeks than at anytime through the first half of the season, that part of Williamsport's game has been ever so important. Over its their last 11 games, the Crosscutters have been held to two runs or fewer six times.

They've pulled out those games because of the pitching staff's strong run of starts and relief appearances like the ones they got Monday night. In a spot start, Korey Noles threw six one-hit innings giving up just an unearned run when new first baseman Darin Ruf lost a throw to first in the sun.

Spencer Arroyo followed with three brilliant innings. Austin Hyatt finished the game for his second win of the year leaving a Jamestown runner stranded on third in the 11th inning when he struck out Jammers two-hole hitter Chris Wade with two outs.

The three pitchers combined on a five-hitter, only two of which came in the first eight innings.

"Even if the offense struggles, our job stays the same," Hyatt said. "Just go get outs. (Noles) was amazing. He set the tone, Arroyo was great and I just wanted to keep it going."

"The pitchers have been throwing real well," Schoenberger said. "We just haven't been helping them out too much."

Leandro Castro, who had three of the Cutters' seven hits, finally sparked the offense in the eighth inning with a leadoff solo home run to tie the game. Castro, who was honored as the Cutters' Player of the Week prior to the game, hit just his second home run of the season, and his first since opening night at State College.

"He's been great," Truby said. "Any time he's up, he can swing it, he bunts and he can hit for some power. He's a guy who is as good as anybody at-bat wise."

Schoenberger gave the Cutters their third walkoff hit of the season by the third different player when he lifted an 0-1 fastball to deep centerfield to drive in Batts, who was running for Ruf. The win snapped the Cutters' four-game losing streak.

"It still counts. It still wins the game," Schoenberger said with a smile of the game-winning sacrifice fly. "We can win on any day given. It's a matter of putting it all together."

"This is how we play. Thirty-eight games, and 18 of them one-run games, this is what we expect," Truby said. "Every at-bat counts. Every groundball hit to you matters. Every situation matters. Every pitch matters. It's a great learning experience for these guys because you can't give anything away."