The tension would boil at the end of the eighth inning, when Joey Parliment struck out swinging on a pitch by reliever Zane Probst. After the K, Probst was seen profoundly yelling at Parliment after the fact, with a reported spit towards the batter.

The game would officially boil over in the middle of the ninth inning, when Williamsport assistant coach Sean Miller and an unnamed State College coach came face to face with one another by the State College dugout, with the Spikes coach throwing a punch at Miller.

Benches were cleared followed by more punches, with multiple reports indicating that a State College assistant coach threw a punch at a Williamsport athlete, causing him to fall on the ground.

Head umpire Dom Goller immediately called an end to the game, giving the Spikes a 4-0 win after eight and a half.

Vantrel Reed of the Williamsport Crosscutters catches a fly ball hit by Gavin Lewis of the Spikes during the top of the second inning at Journey Bank Ballpark. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“I saw a coach tonight swing at a player,” said Williamsport Crosscutter manager Kenny Thomas. “He hit him right in the face and you can’t do that. You can’t do that.”

The first five innings of the contest were represented by impregnable pitching. In a starter’s duel between Williamsport’s Brad Rudis and State College’s Anthony Steele, not a single run was scored across the first five innings in the contest.

The closest that either team would come to breaking their goose egg would both come, ironically, in the first inning.

For State College, they would get as far as 90 feet home when a pair of two out singles from TJ Salvaggio and Conor Higgs put the pair at the corners. Rudis would draw an Adonis Forte groundout to second to escape.

Williamsport would do one better in the bottom half of the frame, loading the bases with two outs on a Jackson Mayo single, and walks from TJ Racherbaumer and Joey Parliment. This time it would be Steele’s turn to mellow the drama from the hill, forcing a Marcus Brodil flyout to leave the bases stranded.

Braylon Bishop of the Williamsport Crosscutters singles in the second inning against the Spikes at Journey Bank Ballpark. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

In addition, defensive plays were a highlight in the early going. For State College, third baseman Gavin Lewis Jr. would spark ire when he made a diving snag to his left for the final out, despite Williamsport’s protest that it had bounced. With a runner on second, a passed ball would have given Williamsport the lead.

On the opposite side, Vantrel Reed would make a highlight reel of his own at second base with a variety of diving snags and an over the top catch to end a frame of his own.

But after five innings of pitchers paradise, State College would draw blood in the top of the sixth when a pair of one out singles by, once again, TJ Salvaggio and Conor Higgs put them on corners.

And this time, Adonis Forte would prove the victor when he laced a line drive that fell in right field for a base hit. Salvaggio would trot home for the opening score.

Rudis would escape the sixth without further damage before being pulled for the final time as a Cutter. Rudis would leave his magnum opus in his final appearance at Bowman Field, going six innings while allowing one run on six hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Braylon Bishop of the Williamsport Crosscutters catches a ball hit by Jaden Collura of the Spikes in the first inning at Journey Bank Ballpark. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

Now facing Davis Blair, the Spikes bats would get to work starting with a pair of one out walks to Chenar Brown and Jakobi Davis.

Two batters later, and both would come around to score when Salvaggio notched a triple off the wall at right field. It was Salvaggio’s third hit of the evening and the first to go for extra bases. It was additionally the second game in a row where the first reliever out of the bullpen conceded multiple runs.

While Williamsport’s pitching fell off, State College starter Anthony Steele would completely blank the Cutters. Coming into the game with an 0-3 record and a 12.46 earned run average, Steele would shutout the Cutters across seven pitches with three hits and four walks and no strikeouts.

State College would put the finishing touches on the performance in the top of the ninth, getting a fourth run across when a Jaden Collura single sent in Jakobi Davis.

What followed was a ninth inning that would never finish, with a mid inning scuffle ending matters prematurely in what will stand out as a poor moment in the history of the Draft League.

Jared Ure of the Williamsport Crosscutters walks off the field after pitching in the 8th inning against State College at Journey Bank Ballpark. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

“I’ve seen scuffles,” concluded Thomas. “But I’ve never seen that before.”

The loss moved Williamsport to 19-23-1 on the season, drawing them level with the Mahoning Valley Scrappers with one game to play. In the overall standings, the result confines Williamsport to last in the MLB Draft League for the second time in three seasons, with the Cutters now going three seasons in a row finishing in the bottom half of the table.

Just one win past the least amount of wins in Draft League history, the Cutters will look for redemption Wednesday night when they host the Spikes in the final game of the season at Bowman Field.

Coach Jesse Estrada talks with pitcher Davis Blair of the Williamsport Crosscutters after he left the game against the Spikes at Journey Bank Ballpark. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette