Final Score: West Virginia 10, Williamsport 6

Granville, WV – In a Jekyll and Hyde style of game, the Williamsport Crosscutters fell in the 2022 MLB Draft League Championship Game to the West Virginia Black Bears by the final score of 10-6 at Monongalia County Ballpark.

It was all Williamsport at the onset as Taylor Jackson doubled to centerfield on just the third pitch of the ballgame, quickly followed up on by Connor Denning RBI double, also to centerfield, to score Jackson. Denning would then score as well on an EJ Taylor double to centerfield two batters later, giving Williamsport a 2-0 lead after a half-inning of play.

After a second inning that saw the bottom of the Cutters lineup go in order, the stage was set for another big inning from the top of the order in the third inning. Taylor Jackson, this time on a full count, would double to centerfield and once again score one batter later as Connor Denning singled to centerfield. Denning would advance to second base on the throw home, and was setup to score next as Travis Holt drove Denning home with his part of back-to-back RBI singles, giving Williamsport a 4-0 lead and chasing Black Bears starter Zach Bravo from the game.

The Cutters offense would again go quiet until the top of the order returned to the plate in the fifth inning. This time around, Taylor Jackson would work a lead-off walk and steal second with Connor Denning at the plate. Denning would work a walk of his own, once again placing two on and nobody out for Travis Holt. Holt would capitalize as he did in his previous at-bat, crushing a 2 RBI double to the centerfield wall to score both Jackson and Denning and push the Williamsport lead to 6-0 after 4 ½ innings of play.

On the defensive side of the ball, all started well for the first four innings for the Crosscutters as well, with starter Jarret Whorff as he worked four shutout innings, including striking out the side in the 2nd inning.

In the Bottom of the 5th inning however, the wheels fell off the train for the Crosscutters pitching as Whorff surrendered five hits and four runs before Cutters manager Jesse Litsch made the call to the bullpen, bringing out Cutters 2nd Half Most Valuable Pitcher Nick Meyer. Meyer was able to stop the bleeding, but not before giving up a 2 RBI double to Ruben Fontes that would tie the game at 6-6 heading into the 6th inning.

Nick Meyer would return to the mound to begin the sixth, but after issuing a lead-off walk, would be replaced on the bump by Brandon Kaminer. Kaminer would force a fielder’s choice to start his outing, but would go on to issue two straight walks and surrender a 2 RBI single to Logan Mathieu to give West Virginia a 8-6 lead. After another fielder’s choice, Kaminer would surrender his third run of the outing on a balk call as he dropped the baseball while looking in for the sign, and a throwing error by SS Travis Holt would give the Black Bears their tenth run of the ballgame.

Neither side would be able to find the scoreboard again as Williamsport fell in the 2022 MLB Draft League Championship Game by a final score of 10-6 to the West Virginia Black Bears.

With the loss, the 2022 Williamsport Crosscutters miss out on it’s chance to capture the franchise’s first league championship since winning the 2003 New York-Penn League Championship, but still goes out as a historic Cutters squad, having won the 2022 MLB Draft League Second Half Championship and giving Williamsport it’s first title of any kind since becoming the 2015 New York-Penn League Pinckney Division Champions.

With the 2022 season now in the rear-view mirror, we encourage you to stay tuned to Crosscutters.com and our various social media platforms for any off-season news, including the announcement of Opening Night 2023.

Cutters Carvings – The Crosscutters final pitcher, Jesse Bolt, was the only pitcher to hold the Black Bears off the scoreboard, going 1.0 IP and allowing just 1 hit… Taylor Jackson and Connor Denning both recorded three hit games and accounted for all six of the Crosscutters runs… The last two playoff appearances for the Crosscutters (2015 & 2022) both came to an end in West Virginia, and both seasons ended with the Black Bears crowed as league champions…