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Cutters erase six-run deficit to win in sudden death on Thursday vs. Black Bears

By NICOLAS SEVERINI 5 min read

The Cardiac Crosscutters struck again Thursday night, erasing a six-run deficit to win in sudden death against the West Virginia Black Bears, 6-6, at Bowman Field. The contest would take sudden death to conclude. With Williamsport batting, Carson Bayne would be the designated runner and Dawson Hall on the hill for West Virginia. With the help of a broken bat, Chris Stanfield would ground out allowing Bayne to move in scoring position.

Weaponizing an intentional walk to get the double in play, Hall would instead hit batter Nicholas Romano to load the bases with one away and James McCoy at the dish. The three spot hitter wouldn't disappoint, blooping a ball just past the outreached glove of left fielder Tyvon Moore to win a dramatic one in Billtown.

"Our guys just play hard," said Williamsport Crosscutter Manager Kenny Thomas. "We sometimes don't pitch really well, we sometimes don't hit real good, but we got two home runs there that were huge and tied it up."

The first three innings of the game would be highlighted by stellar pitching from both sets of starters. Across the first third of the game, Williamsport starter Evan Grimes and West Virginia wing Drew Townson combined for three scoreless innings and four strikeouts while allowing six combined runners.

In what was shaping to be a pitcher's duel, West Virginia would look to buck the trend in the fourth. Zack Thompson would become the catalyst, reaching on a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a shallow ground out. Jackson Trout would become the provider, slapping a base hit that scored Thompson for the opening run.

West Virginia would double their lead an inning later, starting with a Cayden Gaskin leadoff double. The man at the top would advance to third on a wild pitch, reaching home an at-bat later off of a Kevin Jones flyout. Grimes would escape the fifth inning without further damage before being relieved. The lefty starter would end his session with five innings pitched that saw two runs, four hits, three walks, and three strikeouts.

The Black Bears continued the trend into Williamsport's bullpen. In the top of the sixth, an Alec DeMartino single and Noah Juras walks put two runners on, with the pair shifting to scoring position on a Tyvon Moore sacrifice bunt. Cayden Gaskin would continue his production, ripping a 103 mile per hour single to left field to score DeMartino.

A Ben Barrett walk would further load the bases for Zack Thoompson, who knocked reliever Evan Grimes and many of Williamsport's hopes out of the game when he laced a two run single to center field for a 5-0 scoreline.

Black Bear starter Drew Townson would take the comfortable cushion into the dugout after five innings pitched. West Virginia's ace would shut out the Cutters in his shift, conceding just one hit with five walks and a strikeouts.

West Virginia continued their production for the fourth inning in a row. In the top of the seventh, Alec DeMartino would reach first with one out, getting into scoring position after swiping second for his fifth steal of the season. Nine hole hitter Tyvon Moore, who came in with a .158 average and one run batted in, doubled that tally when he scored an RBI single to left field.

Desperate for momentum, the Cutters would find that emphatically in the bottom of the frame. With two outs and none on, Nicholas Romano would spark the rally with a base hit, with the third baseman reaching second after a balk. James McCoy would take advantage at the plate, knocking the first run for the home side on a single to center field.

But it would be Nicholas Romano that set the crowd alight. With McCoy on, the power hitting first baseman would make it a three run game on one swing when he uncorked a pitch 412 feet into the Williamsport skies. Williams' dinger was his fifth of the season.

The Cutters weren't done.

After Jack Kail and Nick Barone reached with a single and a walk, all eyes fell on backup catcher Trey Wells. Sporting an .083 average, Wells would have his name etched in Cutter fans that night when he torched his first home run of the season to tie the game.

"I told him in BP yesterday 'You are a power guy,'" said Thomas. "'And your stance is not synonymous with a power guy, and we need to change some things.' So he did."

Williamsport would look to capitalize an inning later, quickly getting two on base from Joey DeMucci hit by pitch and an Owen Prince single. With runners at the corners, Prince stole the 171st base of the season, breaking a franchise record set in 2022 that put two in scoring position. After an intentional walk and two strikeouts,a Jack Kail groundout kept the score level despite the scoring chance.

The result after nine was a sudden death competition, which saw Williamsport take both the game and the series in a game not short of drama. The win moved Williamsport to 13-11 in the second half of the season, potentially moving the Cutters to second place in the MLB Draft League standings.

Starting at /week.