Seabold makes debut as Cutters move over .500
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By MITCH RUPERT
mrupert@sungazette.com
The time spent on the pitcher's mound by Connor Seabold this year is going to be limited, so he wants to make the most of each opportunity he gets. During his professional debut for the Williamsport Crosscutters on Saturday at Bowman Field, the third-round pick out of Cal State Fullerton showed just how efficient he can be.
Seabold needed just 22 pitches to get through his two innings, striking out three. He and three other Williamsport pitchers combined to strike out 15 Mahoning Valley batters in a 6-1 win over the Scrappers. It came one night after five Cutters pitchers combined to strike out 16 Scrappers hitters.
"I know I'm on an innings limit, so no matter how efficient I am, I'm still only going to go two or three innings at a time," said Seabold, who threw 127 innings this spring for the Titans on their march to the College World Series. "I'm OK with that and I kind of expected it. It's not a huge deal for me as long as I'm out there and getting innings."
Williamsport's win last night lifted the Cutters (10-9) over .500 for the first time since they were 1-0 after an Opening Day win against State College. The victory also gave manager Pat Borders his 95th career win as Williamsport's skipper, passing Andy Stewart (94) for the most in franchise history.
He did it on a night where the Seabold and Phillies second-round draft pick Spencer Howard both made their professional debut in front of a crowd of more than 1,800 fans. Both pitchers threw only two innings for Williamsport, but each of their outings provided excitement for various reasons.
Howard, who started the game, was electric with a fastball which topped out at 95 mph a handful of times. He allowed a pair of hits, a pair of walks and a run in his two innings, but he also struck out four batters. The Cal Poly San Luis Obispo product showcased three off-speed pitches, but relied heavily on his fastball.
Seabold was a vision of command with his fastball which sat in the 90-92 mph range. He pepper Mahoning Valley hitters with fastball after fastball, painting the corner on both sides of the plate and even elevating a fastball for a strikeout to start the fifth inning.
"That's just how I pitch," Seabold said of utilizing his fastball. "I throw a lot of fastballs and command it and then let the secondary stuff do its stuff."
"(Seabold) looked very good," Borders said. "Howard came out there, even though there was some erratic control at times, I think there's a lot in there and he can improve a lot."
The strong pitching wasn't reserved for just those two, though. Jhon Nunez threw a scoreless third inning to pick up the win. And Gustavo Armas, who lost his spot in the starting rotation so Howard could make the start last night, threw four shutout innings to close the game. He struck out eight batters, including the final six he faced.
It was the most batters Armas had struck out since he struck out eight for the Venezuelan Summer League Phillies on July 1, 2015 against the VSL Tigers. It was the most strikeouts he's recorded since pitching stateside. Armas picked up the first save of his career for throwing the final four innings.
"I don't think he would put his head down (for being moved out of the rotation) because he's not that type of kid," Borders said. "He's one of the most decent kids we have on the team. So I wouldn't expect him to do that, but it's really good that he came out and pitched well."
The Williamsport offense burst to a strong start again thanks to an early two-run double from 18-year-old right-fielder Jhailyn Ortiz. He jumped all over a first pitch up in the zone with two outs against Mahoning Valley starter Felix Tati and drove the ball to the right-center field gap to score Nick Maton (3 for 4, RBI) and Josh Stephen (1 for 4, double).
Ortiz drove in another run when he doubled to the wall on a 1-2 pitch in the third inning which put Williamsport up 4-1. In the first two games of the series, Ortiz has four hits, three for extra bases, and has driven in five of the Cutters' 13 runs.
"He's just learning. He's getting better at what he does," Borders said. "He had one at-bat where he struck out and he got another learning lesson. But he's the kind of guy who retains information and improves relatively quickly."
"Whenever you have run support on your side, it's nice," Seabold said. "I didn't start the game, but I felt super relieved when we started scoring some runs because it takes a lot of the pressure off your shoulders. And I'm sure if you ask Spencer, he'll say the same thing. It feels like you have a little bit of room to breathe."