In nearly half a century as a baseball coach, few things are unfamiliar to Kenny Thomas. Coming from the college baseball circuit for a vast majority of his career, the Williamsport Crosscutter manager has seen nearly everything that America’s pastime can offer.

But for Thomas, the current home stand to end the season will be a rare chance for uniqueness in his view.

That is because, for all intents and purposes, the remaining games mean very little.

With West Virginia clinching the MLB Draft League second-half title, Thursday’s MLB Draft League championship is already set in stone as the Black Bears will travel to take on the State College Spikes, winners of the first half.

The result leaves the rest of the league, including the Cutters, in a precarious position where the only thing they can do is improve their overall standing in the 2025 season.

But that, according to Thomas, is well worth the grind.

“For me, every game is important,” echoed Thomas prior to Saturday’s game against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. “They get on a scoreboard tonight at the game. As long as they run a scoreboard, every game matters, and there will be a scoreboard tonight. So every game matters.”

With five games left in the MLB Draft League season going into Saturday night, the Crosscutters find themselves fourth out of sixth in the league with an 18-21 record in the second half.

With second and last separated by just three games, Williamsport can climb to opposite polls of the standings by year’s end.

The weekend games come at a precarious spot, with Williamsport dropping seven of their last 10 games in league play, matching only the Black Bears for worst form in the league.

The injury bug, a common virus within the Cutters this season, has led to a team that has 12 pitchers and 11 position players, including four catchers.

“I talked to the guys the other day, and they realize that we’ve had some really bad luck,” commented Thomas. “They’ve realised we had some really bad luck, and we’ve had to scrap and claw, it’s been very frustrating to them. But as we know, we are all in this to try and win ballgames and improve our talent level.”

For many athletes on the team, the remaining five games on the schedule may be their last on a baseball team. In the history of the MLB Draft League, it’s increasingly rare for a second-half player to be picked up into a minor league organization. Of the 12 Cutters that featured in the 2024’s championship, five no longer play baseball while the remaining seven have platooned across multiple independent leagues.

“I was very honest with them about that,” echoed Thomas.”Some of them will be playing again next year and some of them won’t, so you want to end feeling good… At some point in your life, when baseball is over for you, you are gonna hate the days that you cheated yourself. You’re gonna think back to those days, and you are gonna wish you could’ve had those days back.

“I know the days I wasn’t prepared, I wasn’t as rested as I should be, I didn’t hustle as hard as I should, I didn’t workout in the weight room as much as I should,” Thomas continued. “I remember those days, and I hate those days. I wish I could go back and change them, and they are going to do that too.”

Williamsport’s season will close out soon with the remaining games set against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers being followed by a three-game series against the State College Spikes to close out the 2025 season.

“We know we are not as talented in some areas as other teams in this league,” concluded Thomas. “We can’t do anything about that. What we can do something about is our effort. That is what we can control.”