Williamsport, P.A. – Williamsport’s late-inning rally came up short, falling 2-1 to the Thunder in the series finale.
Michale Ciminello took the ball for his first start of the season and he battled his command through 3.2 innings. The Lefty allowed just one run on two hits, but walked four batters in the outing.
JM Long helped Ciminiello get out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the 2nd inning, using an all out dive to stop a Jake Simons ground ball. Long flipped to Max Mandler at 2nd base to get the final out of the inning, keeping the game scoreless at the time.
Trenton plated their first run of the night in the top of the 3rd, cashing in on a double from John Taylor. Taylor took 3rd on a Ciminiello wild pitch and scored on a ground out by Landon Frei to make it 1-0.
The Cutters were held in check through four innings by Thunder starter Channing Austin, who struck out seven Cutters in four scoreless frames. Williamsport managed four base runners against Austin, with all four stranded.
Williamsport missed on a golden scoring opportunity in the bottom of the 6th inning, seeing two in scoring position with one out. Ethan Bradford was able to strikeout Dalton Robinson and get Porter Brown to fly out to end the inning and leave the runners aboard.
JM Long was able to score the Cutters lone run in the 7th inning, using his legs to set up and cross the plate. Long took off for 2nd as Anthony Stephan chopped a ground ball to the left of the mound, with the shortstop and third basemen charging, Long kept on running to a vacated 3rd base.
Long came in a couple pitches later on a wild pitch from Adam Bogosian to tie the game at 1-1.
Trenton would take the lead back in the top of the 8th inning against Jimmy Romano, using a RBI double from Jake Simons to plate Ian Battipaglia, making it a 2-1 game. Battipaglia had tripled the at bat prior, setting up the go-ahead run.
Williamsport made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th inning, as JM Long again used his legs, stretching out a single to left field with one out.
Trenton reliever Jackson Balzan would be able to strike out Stephan and get Max Mandler to ground out to 3rd to end the game, leaving the tying run 90 feet from home.
The Crosscutters will wrap up the 1st half of the season with a two-game series against the West Virginia Black Bears on Friday and Saturday on the road.
Cutters Carvings – This was just the forth loss at Journey Bank Ballpark for Williamsport (11-4 at home)… Cutters six through nine hitters went 1-15 with 10 strikeouts in the loss… The Cutters can secure a single-digit loss total in the 1st half by winning one of their next two games…
