NILES, OH - The West Virginia Black Bears began their 2022 MLB Draft League season on the road against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. In front of a packed crowd at Eastwood Field, the Black Bears dropped the first game of the series to the Scrappers, 7-5.
The Scrappers got off to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning. Black Bears starting pitcher, Peyton Olejnik loaded the bases and walked Scrappers LF Anthony Hansen for the first run of the game. Olejnik would allow one more run before closing out the inning after walking 2B Roberto Pena and scoring SS Sean Tillmon.
Olejnik continued his shaky start through the second inning when lead-off hitter CF Buck Anderson stole home after a pitch thrown into the dirt escaped Black Bears catcher Mauricio Millan. Heading into the third inning, the Scrappers led 3-0.
The Bears’ bats came alive in the top of the third with consecutive singles from RF Sam Crail and 2B Blaze Brothers. After a stolen base by Brothers put both men in scoring position, a double off the bat of 3B Keenan Taylor drove in the first West Virginia runs of the game, cutting Mahoning Valley’s lead to one. Millan notched his first RBI of the season in the next at-bat as Taylor scored from second base. The Bears ended the inning on a pop fly to center field, but not before knotting the game, 3-3.
West Virginia’s scoring stalled between the fourth and eighth innings, stranding men on base in two-of-three innings, while the Scrappers continued to add runs in the fourth and sixth innings to take a 5-3 lead. The Bears showed a spark of life in the top of the eighth when Taylor scored on a line-drive single to right field by CF Haven Mangrum, but the Scrappers answered with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to bring the score to 7-4.
Though the Black Bears would add one more run in the top of the ninth on a solo homerun courtesy of Brothers, they could not overcome the deficit and ended the game 7-5.
Despite the loss, Brothers, a former INF from Northeastern State University, made his presence known with a standout performance in game one. The 2022 All MIAA First-Team selection went 4-for-5 with one RBI, one home run and two stolen bases.
The Black Bears return for the second game of the four-game series at Eastwood Field on Friday, June 3. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
