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Cutters can’t overcome early deficit in 14-9 home loss to West Virginia on Monday

By NICOLAS SEVERINI 5 min read

The Williamsport Crosscutters were unable to produce Monday night, dropping a contest to the West Virginia Black Bears at Bowman Field, 14-9. In a game that can only generously be described as such, a 18-11 hit differential and an early 6-0 deficit after two innings plagued Williamsport in what was a night to forget.

"They were in hit mode," said Williamsport Crosscutter manager Kenny Thomas. "Every time they came to the plate, they were swinging at the first pitch because they knew it's gonna be in there. But their guy pitched well, they made a couple great defensive plays, and when you pitch like we did tonight, things get out of hand real quick."

After coming to life at the end of yesterday's game, West Virginia bats made sure to bring the energy early. After a groundout started the game. The Black Bears would get two in scoring position from a Kevin Jones single and Ben Barrett double.

Ian Collier would give the visitors an early lead an at-bat later, grounding sharply to third base with the ball going off the glove of third baseman Jake Zitella for an error.

A flyout and Jackson Trouot walk later, and the Black Bears would turn it into a rally. Moving down in the lineup for West Virginia, Elijah Cook would provide the burst when he slapped a 110-mile-per-hour single to left field that scored two more runs.

The Black Bears would continue their attack an inning later, beginning with a Cayden Gaskin leadoff double.

After a hard hit flyout, the Black Bears found the scoreboard once more when Ben Barrett snagged his second hit of the day with a one run single to centerfield. But that would all prelude the efforts of Collier, who slammed the game into West Virginia's favor with a 413-foot bomb to left field that exited the ballpark. Collier's second home run of the season made it a 6-0 scoreline.

Williamsport starter Kenney Fabian would survive the second inning before being relieved, with four of his six runs earned on seven hits with two walks and a strikeout.

Unfortunately for the Cutters, a pitching change wouldn't stop West Virginia's bats in the third inning. With two outs and nobody on, the Black Bears would manage to get two more runs from a Cayden Gaskin double, Kevin Jones RBI single, and a one run single from Ben Barrett.

Continuing the trend, West Virginia would get another two out rally that led to a run in the fourth. With two outs and none on, an Elijah Cook walk turned into a 9-0 game when a Noah Jouras double brought the speedy outfielder around to score.

After finally being held scoreless in the fifth, the Black Bears got back to their scheduled power at the plate in the sixth. With one out and a runner at first, Cole Kitchens would get his first ball out of the park this season when he turned on a change-up 362 feet into the visitors bullpen. The homer was the 17th home run allowed by Cutters pitching in the second half this season, the highest allowed in the MLB Draft League by five.

That home run mark would prove out of date just an inning later. With another two outs and another runner on, Jackson Trout produced yet another homerun when he uncorked a fastball 417 feet to left center field. The blast was the second of the season for Trout and the third of the night by Black Bear bats.

While West Virginia bats flourished, Black Bear starter Hunter Holzemer would have a similar evening on the mound. By the time he was relieved after the sixth inning, he had shutout the Cutters with two hits, three walks and six strikeouts.

West Virginia made it their largest lead in the eighth inning with Cayden Gaskin, who traded two outs for a run with an RBI double play.

After eight agonizing innings, the Cutters gave their fans a reason to cheer in the bottom of the eighth inning. With two outs and runners on second and third, Chris Stanfield turned his 24th birthday around when he blooped a two run single to right field.

Williamsport added more consolation runs to close out the ninth inning. First off was Nick Barone, who led off the frame with a double before scoring on a wild pitch. Owen Prince would sacrifice an out for a run two batters later, flying out to left field allowing Kail to come in.

Eventually, the bases would load up with two outs for Chris Stanfield, who reached on an error to make it 14-5. With even the most optimist among us in doubt, James McCoy kept the rally going when he laced a three run double down the left field line to make it a 14-8 contest.

The crowd, whose attendance figure of 1,073 dwindled significantly at this point, got to their loudest when a Barone RBI single made it a five-run game. But that burst proved to be a last hoorah, with a Jack Kail popout halting a potential all time comeback.

The loss drops Williamspoort to 8-8 on the second half season, potentially dropping to fourth place in the MLB Draft League standings. With Williamsport taking game one, the two sides will compete in the rubber match on Tuesday at Bowman Field.

Starting at /week.