GRANVILLE, W.Va. – It was a tough end to the first half of the season for the West Virginia Black Bears, losing to the Scrappers 18-7 at Kendrick Family Ballpark. With the loss, West Virginia finishes third in the MLB Draft League standings, and State College wins the first-half title and will host the Championship game on September 4.
The Bears found themselves in a hole after starting pitcher Parker Dillhoff allowed seven runs through 1.1 innings pitched. The Scrappers went straight to work scoring three in the first frame and four in the second. In rare form, the defense allowed two runs on costly errors to trail 7-0.
The Bears clawed back in the bottom of the second with three runs. Connor Hicks was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Then singles from Nico Newhan and Beau Sylvester loaded the bases. Ethan Hott broke the game open for the Bears after hitting his fourth double of the season to score all three.
But the Scrappers’ bats stayed hot the rest of the game. They added one run in the third to go back up by five, then exploded for six in the fourth with back-to-back doubles from Ben Watson and Carson Garner. Looking to make a statement after last night’s defeat, Mahoning Valley continued to pile on the Bears, scoring four more runs through the final four innings.
The Bears’ offense came alive too late to make the score manageable, bringing home one in the bottom of the seventh on Tyler Cerny’s first home run of the season. They tacked on three more in the eighth after Newhan walked and Sam Miller singled. Consecutive base hits by Hott and Cerny brought home Newhan and Miller, before Ben Lumsden grounded out to first to bring in Hott.
It was a tough outing for the Bears defense after being down four runs through two innings. Things snowballed, as the bullpen suffered their worst loss of the season, allowing 20 hits with the defense committing a season-high five errors.
With the loss, the Black Bears (16-13) finished the first half in third place, falling one game behind the Spikes. West Virginia will spend three days off during the MLB Draft before returning for the second half of the season and a five-game road trip against the Frederick Keys and the State College Spikes. The Bears return home Monday, July 21, for a rematch against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in a two-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
