Niles, Ohio - Behind strong pitching performances from Ryker Walton, Tyler Muscar and Bobby Helt, the Williamsport Crosscutters took the opening game of this three-game series at the Mahoning Valley Scrappers by a final score of 8-2 on Wednesday night at 7 17 Credit Union Field at Eastwood.
Mahoning Valley got the scoring started in the first inning, striking for a single run off Cutters starter Ryker Walton.
Williamsport’s offense would wait for the middle innings to find their stride, plating multiple runs in both the fourth and fifth innings.
Nick Barone would lead off the fourth inning with a walk and stole second base, his 13th swiped bag of the season. This would be followed by a Nicholas Romano walk and both runners moving up on a throwing error by Scrappers catcher Julian Hernandez on a pickoff attempt. This setup Jack Kail to pick up an RBI groundout, plating Barone and advancing Romano to third. Romano wouldn’t stay there long as the debuting catcher Trey Wells singled to center field to score Romano.
The fifth inning started similar to the fourth as lead-off man Owen Prince singled to reach and stole second, his 14th steal of the season. Prince would move up to third on a James McCoy flyout and score by beating out the throw home on a Nick Barone fielder’s choice. Back-to-back singles from Nicholas Romano and Jack Kail would score Barone and give the Cutters the 4-1 lead in the middle of the fifth inning.
The Scrappers would respond in the bottom of the seventh with another single run, trimming the Crosscutters lead to 4-2.
Williamsport added insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning with Owen Prince once again reaching as the lead-off hitter, this time via a walk. Prince would move first to third on a James McCoy single and score on an RBI groundout from Nick Barone. Two batters later following a Nicholas Romano walk, James McCoy would steal third and score on a Jack Kail ground-rule double to right field. During the next at-bat, Romano would score from third as Trey Wells reached on a fielding error by Scrappers shortstop Kaikea Harrison. Still not done, Jake Zitella would add an RBI single two batters later, scoring Kail and moving Wells up to second to give the Cutters an 8-2 lead, which would stand as the final score.
Ryker Walton improved to 3-1 on the season, earning the win in his five inning start allowing just one run on five hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Tyler Muscar would go 1 1/3 innings in his Cutters debut, earning a hold while allowing one run on two hits with two walks and no strikeouts.
The also debuting Bobby Helt closed the game on the mound and earned the save, going the final 2 2/3 innings, striking out four while allowing a home run as his only blemish.
Williamsport and Mahoning Valley continue this three-game series on Thursday night with the middle game of the set. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at 7 17 Credit Union Field at Eastwood.
Cutters Carvings – Three players made their debuts for the Williamsport Crosscutters tonight: LHP Tyler Muscar, RHP Bobby Helt and Catcher Trey Wells… Despite the victory, Williamsport’s offensive struggles with runners in scoring position continued, going just 4-for-17… Williamsport left 11 runners on base in the win…
