NILES, OH – The West Virginia Black Bears captured their first win of the season in a 16-4 blowout of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers at Eastwood Field. West Virginia put on a show in front of a packed crowd on Friday night, scoring two or more runs in five of nine innings. Morgantown native, Ross Mulhall, scored his first home run – and the first of the MLB Draft League season – igniting the offense in a stunning turnaround from game one.
The Black Bears came out hot in the top of the first to take an early lead. West Virginia jumped on the board with a line drive single by 3B Logan Kohler that scored CF Devin Saltiban. The next at-bat, 1B Ross Mulhall sent a hard-hit ball deep into center field that breached the wall for a home run. Heading into the bottom of the inning, the Bears led 3-0.
Mahoning Valley struck back with a run in the bottom of the second when 3B Harrison Rodgers doubled on a fly ball to left field that scored RF Travis Moore. Left fielder Aaron Jamison nabbed the final out to end the inning, but not before the Scrappers cut the Bears’ lead to two.
But whatever momentum Mahoning Valley hoped to harness heading into the third came to an abrupt halt in the top of the inning as West Virginia hung six runs on the Scrappers. Mulhall recorded his second RBI of the evening on a line-drive single to center field that scored RF Nick Iannantone. Kohler followed Iannantone home on a fielder’s choice and throwing error by Scrappers’ SS Colton Coates to bring the score to 5-1. After a walk of Jamison loaded the bases, the Bears proceeded to score two runs by walks. With the bases still loaded, Scrappers’ manager Dmitri Young pulled starting pitcher Ahmad Harajli and sent in Diego Jordan to get them out of the jam. A two-run RBI single off the bat of Saltiban increased the Black Bears’ lead to 9-1 before the Scrappers managed to find their way out of the inning.
Not to be outdone by the Black Bears’ bats, West Virginia’s defense quietly held the Scrappers to just one run through the first five innings. Starting pitcher Cobe Reeves picked up his first win of the season in a strong debut. Through five innings pitched, the left-handed Reeves allowed only two hits with one run and four strikeouts.
West Virginia’s hot streak burned into the sixth as the Bears took a commanding lead. Kohler doubled to left field to score Saltiban and put the team at 10 runs. Then a groundout by Mulhall that brought in SS Noah Fisher gave West Virginia its first double-digit lead of the evening.
The Scrappers rallied for three more runs in the bottom of the inning. First baseman Mason Sykes brought in two on a ground ball to center, aided by a fielding error, followed by a final run brought home by Coates’s sacrifice fly.
However, the Black Bears silenced the home team with five more runs in the seventh and eighth innings. In the top of the seventh, two consecutive singles from Saltiban and Iannantone put West Virginia ahead by 10 for the second time as they took a 14-4 lead. The next inning, the Bears scored again on a double by Grabosch, and once more on a single off the bat of 2B Brody Fahr for the 12-run lead. Though the Scrappers managed to get on base in the last two innings, the West Virginia defense held strong to win by a final score of 16-4.
In a sharp turnaround from the previous evening, the Black Bears offense scored 16 runs on 15 hits in 42 at-bats. Of the 11 players to make an appearance at the plate, 10 recorded at least one hit and one run.
Devin Saltiban and Ross Mulhall led the charge for the highly productive team. Saltiban, a recent graduate of Hilo High School (HI), went two-for-five at the plate with two runs, two hits and four RBI. Mulhall, the Shepherd University power-hitter, flexed his muscles for the first Black Bears’ home run of the season, as well as the first of the MLB Draft League season. Mulhall finished the night going two-for-four with two runs, two hits and four RBI.
The Black Bears return for game three of the four-game set on Saturday evening at Eastwood Field. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
