By Ty Bartell
NILES, Ohio — The Mahoning Valley Scrappers returned to action at Eastwood Field following an 11-day absence to defeat the State College Spikes 16-8 in the first game of the second half of the MLB Draft League season.
Last playing in front of a home crowd on July 7, the Scrappers returned with a group of fresh faces to start the second half of the season with a four-game homestand against the Spikes.
Austin Mora got the pitching start for Mahoning Valley, while State College opted to start first-half player Brandon Bergert on the mound.
After a scoreless top of the first, Mahoning Valley grabbed the initial lead in the bottom half of the inning following an RBI fielder's choice by Drey Dirksen to score Blake McCrae, making it 1-0 Scrappers. The Spikes responded quickly in the top of the second inning when Austin Baal went deep to right, tying the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the second, with a runner on and two outs, Kota Suzuki smacked a double to center field, retaking the lead for Mahoning Valley at 2-1.
After a scoreless third inning by both clubs, the Spikes brought the game back to even in the top of the fourth when Grant Norris hit a two-out RBI single, knotting the game at 2-2. The Scrappers retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a Zach Ketterman RBI single and Dirksen’s second RBI of the game off a sacrifice fly, increasing Mahoning Valley's lead to 4-2.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the bases loaded, Suzuki delivered again with a grand slam to right, extending the Scrappers' lead to 8-2. Mahoning Valley added four more runs in the
bottom of the seventh with a two-run double by Jake Allgeyer, an RBI double by Isaac Williams, and a McCrae RBI single, making it 12-2.
The Spikes got a run back in the top of the eighth, scoring off a wild pitch, before the Scrappers scored four runs for the third inning in a row on bases-loaded walks drawn by Drew Holderbach, Williams, McCrae, and Ketterman, giving Mahoning Valley a 16-3 advantage.
State College scored five runs in the ninth, making the final score 16-8 in favor of Mahoning Valley. AJ Riddle earned the win for Mahoning Valley, pitching three scoreless innings in relief, giving up one hit and striking out three. Suzuki was the player of the game, going 3-for-6 with a double, a grand slam, and five RBIs.
Both Mahoning Valley (17-18) and State College (19-17) will return to action on Friday, July 19, for the second game of the four-game series, with a 7:05 p.m. first pitch.
