GRANVILLE, W.Va. – The West Virginia Black Bears stunned the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in a 10-7 comeback win at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Friday evening. After Mahoning Valley pitcher Garrett Peters held the Bears hitless and scoreless through six full innings, West Virginia unloaded in the seventh with seven runs. With the win, West Virginia is tied with State College for first place in the MLB Draft League.
The story of the first six frames was Garrett Peters as the left-handed pitcher kept the Bears off the bags. The former Wright State Raider retired the side every inning, ending the sixth with a solid start to a perfect game.
With the Bears’ bats under wraps, the Scrappers went to work at the plate. Breaking the stalemate in the fifth, Ben Watson launched a home run into right center field, scoring Keegan Rodin and Hayden Moore, on the third offering from starter Daniel Kanagy. Two errors allowed two Scrappers’ runs in the sixth, and a groundout RBI from Moore brought home Patrick Roche the same inning. Mahoning Valley scored a final time in the top of the seventh to take a 7-0 lead.
But the Bears dug in, slowly erasing the deficit with aggressive base running and patience at the plate. The lead-off walk of Tyler Cerny and a single from Tyler Pettorini put runners on the corners. A stolen base put Pettorini and Cerny in scoring position, with Cerny coming home for the first Black Bears run on a Jonny McGill single. Judah Morris took his base on balls, loading them for Connor Hicks. After Hicks was hit on a full count, the Bears scored another run on a walk. Three consecutive batters drove in runs as Nico Newhan, Sam Miller and Beau Sylvester cut the Scrappers’ lead to two. A throwing error at first gave Miller time to score, and Cerny plated Sylvester to tie the game.
West Virginia finally surged ahead in the eighth. Leading off the inning, McGill sent a ground ball bouncing into left field for a double, advancing within 90 feet of home on a groundout at first. The intentional walk of Hicks put Newhan at the plate, where he dropped a ball perfectly into shallow left field for an RBI base hit. After manager Jon Nunnally sent in Ben Lumsden as a pinch runner for Hicks on second, Lumsden scored the final run of the night for West Virginia on a fielding error at first.
Solomon Washington closed the game in his second appearance. The righty from Brentwood, Tennessee, sealed the win for the Bears with two strikeouts in the ninth.
In a game with no hits or runs through the first six innings, the Black Bears struck out just three times and recorded 10 hits in the last two frames. Jonny McGill went two-for-four with two runs and an RBI, while Nico Newhan had one hit and two RBI, including driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth.
The Black Bears bullpen recorded 11 strikeouts with starting pitcher Daniel Kanagy notching six. Connor Benge got his first win with West Virginia in his one-inning appearance. Solomon Washington, who kept the Bears’ lead intact in the ninth, recorded the save.
With the win, West Virginia is tied with State College for first place in the MLB Draft League standings. Mahoning Valley sits half a game back with one game remaining. The final games will determine who is named first-half Champion and what team will host the Championship game on Thursday, September 4. The Black Bears look to clinch their championship berth Saturday evening on Star Wars Night presented by WVU Medicine.
