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Stellar Defense Propels Williamsport past Mahoning Valley

By Nicolas Severini 4 min read

The Williamsport Crosscutters secured a series victory against Mahoning ValleySaturday night, downing the Scrappers 8-1 at Historic Bowman Field.

The batters eye proved vital in the victory, with the Cutters securing seven walks helped out by eight wild pitches from Mahoning pitching that secured the win.

"Offensively, it was weird tonight," admitted Williamsport Crosscutter manager Kenny Thomas. "But what was great tonight was our pitching and our defense... our infield made a couple of spectacular plays."

The Cutters would get busy early in the game, starting with a leadoff single from Nicholas Romano. A second single from James McCoy would put two on base for Matthew Williams, who ripped a single to left field allowing Romano to score from second.

Romano would get the wave home from manager Kenny Thomas, whose position as third base coach and aggressive send home came courtesy of hitting coach Sean Miller being out for the night with an illness.

"I was thinking when I walked into the office, my wife in heaven used to always say in college 'You need to be over there and at third base!'" Thomas chuckled. "'You are better than them guys. Get over there and get them guys off third base.' I was thinking about it in the office going 'Oh lord, she'd have been happy!'"

Coming into the game with a 0.64 earned run average in four appearances, Mahoning Valley starter Alex Kanipe would see a sudden drop in velocity from his first few at-bats. In his first batter faced, Kanipe would throw a fastball in the mid-80's with an offspeed set up in the high 70's to low 80's.

By the time they got back to the top of the order in the second, Kanipe's velocity would drop by as many as 12 miles per hour on pitches, prompting an early pitching change that saw the right hander give up a run on three hits with one strikeout.

Now facing Mahoning Valley's bullpen the rest of the way, Billtown would apply pressure in the third inning. With one out, the Cutters juiced the bases on singles from Matthew Williams and Trey Wells parlayed with a Santino Panaro walk. Continuing the carousal, Sam DeCarlo would double Billtown's lead on a slap single into left field that brought in Williams.

Nick Barone would not stop the rally, lacing a single to center field that scored Santino Panaro. Mahoning would get an out in the process with centerfielder Jayden Hylton, who fired home in time to get Trey Wells out sliding home.

The defensive play wouldn't damper Williamsport's resolve, with the Cutters loading the bases up once again on back to back singles from Nick Barone and Joey DeMucci. With the order back to the top, Nicholas Romano would make it 4-0 when he watched a full count pitch miss the zone to score DeCarlo.

A disastrous fifth inning at the mound for Mahoning Valley looked to have all but sealed the contest. Over the course of the frame that saw the Cutters bring four runs across, Mahoning would concede four walks, a hit by pitch, and an astonishing eight wild pitches as the Cutters increased their lead.

Such struggles were not apparent to Williamsport starter Bobby Helt. The six foot nine wing was elite in his second start of the season, shutting out the Scrappers across five innings that included three hits, a walk, and four strikeouts.

Mahoning's first run of the game would come in the top of the eighth inning. After Kaikea Harrison led off the frame with a hit by pitch, the shortstop would eventually wind up at third when a passed ball put the Scrappers on the board.

The victory moved the Cutters to 18-14 on the season, moving Billtown ahead of the State College Spikes for second in the second half Draft League standings. Billtown will look for the series sweep on Sunday, with the Cutters hosting the Scrappers for their final home game in 11 days at Bowman Field.

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