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Crosscutters bounce back Tuesday to beat Black Bears 5-3 at Bowman

By NICOLAS SEVERINI 4 min read

The Williamsport Crosscutters rebounded well on Tuesday night by coming back to take the rubber match against the West Virginia Black Bears, 5-3, at Bowman Field. With the game tied at three, a two-run burst in the ninth inning headlined by a Sam DeCarlo sacrifice fly spared late-game blushes and put the Cutters back above .500 on the second-half season of the MLB Draft League.

"It all kind of worked out (at the end of the game,)" discussed Williamsport Crosscutter manager Kenny Thomas. "DeCarlo has had struggles lately, but we've been working with him in BP and he drove that ball out there and got the run in."

Eyeing up a better start than Monday's game which had Williamsport concede the first 14 runs of the game, the Cutters will draw first blood in the bottom of the second. With two outs and nobody on, Jack Kail would manage to reach with a blooper single to right field. A stolen base advanced the Columbia graduate to second base for Sam DeCarlo, whose subsequent groundball took a deflection off the foot of second baseman Cayden Gaskin. The ball travelled deep enough into the outfield for Kail to reach home for the opening run of the game.

The Cutters would use their power to their advantage in the third inning. After a leadoff Nicholas Romano single, outfielder James McCoy continued his dominant season when he ripped a fast ball 406 feet over the left field wall. McCoy's two-run shot was his fifth home run of the season, a mark that moves him tied for first in the Draft League in home runs.

After Williamsport starter David Case pitched five shutout innings, his fatigue began to show in the sixth. With one out, West Virginia would load the bases with a Noah Jouras walk, Kevin Jones single, and Ben Barrett single. With one swing, Ian Collier made it a one run game when he laced a double down the left field line. Case would be subsequently pulled for Davin Pollard, who conceded the tying run on a groundout to short. With the extra run accounted for, Case would finish his outing allowing three runs on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts across five and a third of an inning pitched.

Despite three early runs conceded West Virginia starter Tyler Kaltrieder would rebound in a big way to force a no decision. By the time he was pulled with two outs in the seventh, the right hander would give up just two earned runs on seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts himself.

After falling off offensively, Williamsport would threaten in the eighth starting with a leadoff James McCoy walk. Nick Barone would trade an out for advancement, bunting out at first to get the winning run in scoring position. McCoy would get to 90 feet the hard way, stealing third on a ball four pitch to Chris Stanfield to place runners at the corners.

What followed was a strategic game of chess, with Stanfield stealing second, and West Virginia opting to intentionally walk Jack Kail to load the bases and set up the double play ball.

But the next batter, Sam DeCarlo, made sure to put the ball in the air, flying out to centerfield allowing McCoy to tag home for the go ahead run.

Looking for insurance, the Cutters would find just that in Jake Zitella. With speed on the bags, Zitella would rip a single to right field allowing Stanfield to score to raise the advantage to two.

"I talked to McCoy and Barone, and I felt like our best option was to bunt," discussed Thomas. "I know it is kind of weird when you bunt a four hole hitter, but I felt like it was our best opportunity."

Going back for his second inning of relief, Joel Tornero would make the ninth drama free with three outs in four plate appearances for a crucial rubber match win.

The victory moves Williamsport to 9-8 on the season and, with the other two games in the league cancelled due to weather, moves Williamsport to third place in the MLB Draft League standings. Williamsport will hit the road on Wednesday to Ohio with the Cutters taking on the Mahoning Valley Scrappers for a three-game set.

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