Going into Sunday’s slate of games, the Crosscutters stand just half a game behind the first-place Trenton Thunder with seven games left to play.

In what is analogous to the MLB Draft League late additions, due to participating in NCAA regional tournaments or simply getting a break from a gruelling collegiate slate, have been key to the Crosscutters’ late success in the first half.

But sometimes, the day one guy can come into form as well, none more so throughout the season then Ben Tryon.

Tryon, a 21-year-old first baseman from West Bloomfield, Michigan, was coming off of cornerstone year from Dallas Baptist University before getting the callup to the Crosscutters. With the Patriots, Tryon would bat a consistent .315 on the year with 24 extra base hits, 37 runs batted in, and 20 runs scored for a Baptist side that went above .500 in their season.

Ben Tryon of the Crosscutters tries to tag out Chase Williams of Aberdeen during the 6th inning at Bowman Field. DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette

But a disappointing Conference USA Tournament which saw the Patriots get knocked out in the second round to Missouri State and Jacksonville State prompted Tryon to come to the Cutters early, becoming a member of the team’s opening day roster for the 2026 season.

From the jump, Williamsport’s opening series of the year against the West Virginia Black Bears showed that Tryon would become a contributor. After an opening night which saw the first baseman record an RBI, the Michigan native would bounce off of that with three for seven showing the rest of the season that saw another run batted in and a run scored himself.

But that opening series would set the platform for what would become Williamsport’s most consistent and versatile talent to lead the Cutters through a pennant race.

Going into this Sunday, Tryon and fellow day one talent Kyle Schupmann have paced the ballclub in offensive contribution. Tryon has stayed steady, maintaining a .983 OPS that ranks seventh in the league with a .351 battering average, seven doubles that rank third in the MLB Draft League, two triples, 20 runs scored and 11 walks.

But with the first-half season winding down, Tryon’s efforts have transformed his game from a consistent cornerstone to a stat sheet stuffer. Over the last four games Tryon has been an unstoppable force, going 8 for 15 at the plate with three walks, seven runs scored, a pair of doubles, a home run and nine total runs batted in that laps the Draft League over the last week.

Friday night’s series opener against the Aberdeen Ironbirds would be the contest that saw the best out of the first baseman. On a night where the Cutters dropped to two and a half games behind Trenton and needed a win, Tryon’s efforts as the cleanup batter matched the name. By the end of the night, Tryon would go a ridiculous four for five at the plate with six runs batted in, four runs scored, in a walk on route to a dominant 17-1 win that closed the lead at the top of the table.

Included in the runs scored was a grand slam, which the versatile batter would smack in the eighth inning as an exclamation point to the performance.

The Crosscutters will look for an exclamation point in their weekend series Sunday against the Ironbirds, with the Cutters traveling the country roads thereafter to take on the West Virginia Black Bears in a two game stretch before a four game home and home against the State College Spikes concludes the first-half season.