Jackson Mayo of the Williamsport Crosscutters celebrates his double in the first inning against West Virginia at Journey Bank Ballpark. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

The Williamsport Crosscutters are the hottest team in the MLB Draft League.

After a last place finish in the Draft League’s first half season and a meandering start to the second half, Williamsport has turned the jets on in the dog days of the schedule, finding themselves tied for first place in the MLB Draft League second half going into Thursday night.

Heading into Thursday’s crucial match against the West Virginia Black Bears, the Cutters won nine of their last 10 games, with only the Black Bears winning more than four in that same span.

But what has stood out most about Williamsport isn’t their wins, but how they get those wins. Simply put, Williamsport has been throttling their opposition.

In 21 second half games, Williamsport have scored 115 runs against just 90 runs allowed, with a +25 run differential the best mark in the Draft League’s second half slate.

And while their 90 runs allowed has topped the second half, it has been the recent hitting prowess of the Cutters that have made them the in-form team of the Draft League.

Over the last two weeks, Williamsport have led the MLB Draft League in OPS (.790), batting average (.282), and on base percentage (.377) with no other team within 15 points in any of the above categories.

In addition, no team has gotten balls out of the park more than Williamsport, with their 11 home runs in the last 15 days nearly double the amount of home runs by the next highest team in the same span (six from the Black Bears and Mahoning Valley Scrappers.)

The result has been wins in dominant fashion. In the month of August, Williamsport are 5-1, continuing their stretch of 10 wins in their last 11 games going back to July. Of those 10 wins, half have been by four or more runs, including a decisive 14-5 onslaught against the Frederick Keys back on Sunday and a 9-2 dismantling versus the Mahoning Valley Scrappers on the last day of July.

It takes an army of bats for such a streak of team hitting to take place, with seemingly a different Cutters batter making a difference at the plate on any given day.

“So much of baseball is contagious,” said Williamsport Crosscutters manager Kenny Thomas. “No expert has ever figured out how it can be contagious, but it is… we’ve worked extremely hard at it. The guys, they’ve worked, they’ve bought into some things like opposite hitting and two strike hitting.”

Over the course of the same two week stand an astonishing four different players have netted a batting average over .350, with TJ Rachhuerbaumer (.412), Max Mandler (.400), Jackson Mayo (.400), and Safea Villaruz-Mauai (.360) leading the way during the winning streak.

Over the course of the Draft League standings, Mandler has led the Draft League in on base percentage (.505), while Mayo’s three home runs are tied for second in the second half campaign.

Williamsport’s five game home stretch concludes this weekend with a two game series against the Frederick Keys. Starting Tuesday, the team will have a stretch of 14 road games in their next 15 due to the upcoming Little League Classic.