Final Score - Williamsport 12 Trenton 3
Williamsport, PA - Connor Denning’s three-run home run helped the Cutters to a 12-run outburst, besting the Trenton Thunder 12-3, in the opening game of the 2nd half of the MLB Draft League season.
Nick Meyer really set the tone early for the Cutters on the mound, allowing just one run on three hits, over five innings of work. The most he has thrown in a game this season, counting his college season.
Meyer struck out six Thunder batters en route to his first win of the season, lowering his ERA from 13.50 to 7.00 in the process.
The Cutters didn’t take long to get on the board as lead off man and CF Taylor Jackson reached on a single to center to open the bottom of the 1st. Jackson stole 2nd base, reached 3rd on a ground out and then scored on a Travis Holt sacrifice fly to deep left to give the Cutters a 1-0 lead.
The Cutters offense went dormant until the 5th inning, entering the bottom half tied 1-1. Williamsport’s offense awoke with three runs in the bottom of the 5th, getting RBI singles from Travis Holt and Carter Mize. Jesse Hall also plated a run when hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The Cutters took a 4-1 lead to the 6th inning and they weren’t close to being done scoring as they dropped a four spot in the bottom of the 6th. Three of the runs came on Connor Denning’s three-run home run that traveled 387 feet into the right field bullpen, making it 7-1.
Chris Swanberg capped the inning with a two-out RBI single, to score Mize and give Williamsport a 8-1 advantage heading to the 7th inning.
After the Thunder chipped away with two run in in the top of the 7th inning, the Cutters would respond with two more runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, as a pair of Trenton errors allowed the runs to score, making the Crosscutter lead grow to 10-3.
The Cutters offense added two more in the bottom of the 8th, seeing a run score on a double play grounded into by Jake Urena and then seeing Mike Anthony score from 3rd on a wild pitch to give Williamsport an even dozen runs.
Jesse Bolt, Jarrett Whorf and Christian Lopez combined to allow two runs over four innings of relief. The trio struck out four and did not allow a single walk.
Williamsport looks to take game two of the series and the series all together tomorrow evening. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Cutters Carvings: Connor Denning’s home run was the Cutters 14th of the season and the first of the 2nd half... Nick Meyer’s five innings was the longest outing for a Cutters pitcher this season... Three Cutters finished with two hits in the win...
