A night after surrendering a four-run lead late in the game, the Wil-liamsport Crosscutters picked up a much-needed victory on Tuesday night, defeating division-leading Mahoning Valley, 9-4, at Bowman Field.
"It was really nice to see the guys bounce back, especially after the tough loss," said Williamsport manager Chris Truby. "Just to see how they came out was nice. We fell down early, but we battled back, swung the bats well and the bullpen did a nice job for us."
After the Scrappers opened with a pair of runs in the first inning for a quick 2-0 lead, the Cutters quickly answered with a pair of their own in the bottom of the inning before adding three more in the second for a 5-2 lead.
In the first, Williamsport used singles by Alan Schoenberger and Sebastian Valle followed by a two-out double to deep center field by Darin Ruf.
In the second, Evan Porter singled to left with one out and Jonathan Villar followed with a perfectly executed bunt down the third-base line, moving Porter to second.
After Zach Collier struck out, Alan Schoenberger doubled to right, scoring Porter. Leandro Castro doubled to left, chasing Villar and Schoenberger across the plate for the fourth and fifth Cutter runs of the game.
The Cutters saw their lead cut to just one as the Scrappers scored single runs in the third and fourth innings.
With the Scrapper bats silenced through the middle innings by starter Josh Zeid and Chad Poe, the Cutters again went up by two with a single run in the sixth.
Poe and Sean Grieve pitched four scoreless innings, a night after the Cutters' bullpen struggled in a demoralizing loss to Mahoning Valley.
"Poe and Grieve did a nice job for us," said Truby. "Zeid didn't have his best stuff out there tonight, but he battled and gave us five innings. When you have to pick up four innings, it is nice to have guys like Poe and Grieve to call on to put up zeros and keep the score where it was."
Zeid improved to 7-5. He allowed 10 hits and four earned runs to push his ERA up to 2.65. Grieve earned his first save of the season.
Possibly needing a little insurance after the night-before disaster, the Cutters scored three runs in the eighth inning on a two-run double by Porter and a RBI single to left by Collier.
"I was just waiting around and hoping that we get a couple (runs)," said Truby. "Porter comes with a big hit and Collier followed to give us some room."
The Cutters will be right back in action tonight when they host the State College Spikes in a 7:05 p.m. start.
