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For the second time in three nights, Matthew Williams notched a home run as the Williamsport Crosscutters defeated the West Virginia Black Bears in the series opener on Thursday, 6-4, at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Williams' home run, his eighth of the season, was a 403-foot blast at 99 miles per hour off the bat and over the centerfield wall. It would be his only hit of the game. Jack Kail and Santino Panaro each recorded a two-hit night for the Cutters. Kail as 2 for 5 with an RBI while Panaro went 2 for 4 with an RBI, two runs scored and his first three stolen bases of the year.
Jake Zitella added an RBI for the second straight night on a single before being lifted from the game in the ninth. Nicholas Romano, who doubled for the eighth time, along with James McCoy and Joey DeMucci accounted for the rest of Williamsport's runs.
Bobby Helt lasted five innings in his start, not factoring into the decisions, after allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts. Luc Lavigeuer worked two innings to earn the win, allowing no runs on three hits with a strikeout while improving his season record to 3-1. Davin Pollard earned his first save of the year after throwing the final two innings, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts.
The nine-game road trip continues with the middle game of the three-game set at West Virginia on Friday at 7 p.m. Williamsport returns to Bowman Field on Friday, Aug. 28, against State College.