Trenton, N.J. - After trailing by as many as five runs during the contest, the Williamsport Crosscutters rallied for seven runs in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the Trenton Thunder 13-10 in a shortened eight inning contest at Trenton Thunder Ballpark on Friday night.
Williamsport opened the contest with a line drive single by Jackson Mayo, who would advance to second and score on a single from Max Mandler. Mandler would also cap the scoring in the top of the first, coming home on a double by Joshua Lopez to give the Cutters the early 2-0 lead.
Trenton would respond with five runs of their own in the bottom of the first, but Williamsport began their response in the top of the second with a two out double from Connor Shouse. He would score almost immediately thanks to a Jackson Mayo double, reducing the Thunder lead to 5-3.
After a Thunder home run in the third pushed their lead back to three runs at 6-3, Williamsport proved the old baseball adage of "leadoff walks always score" to be true as JM Long walked to lead off the fourth, advanced to third on a Lawson Knight single, and scored on a single from Connor Shouse. That would make it a 6-4 ballgame, still in favor of Trenton, heading to the bottom of the fourth inning.
Williamsport's offense would go quiet at this point while Trenton continued to build their lead, scoring one in the fourth and two in the fifth to build a 9-4 lead.
In the top of the sixth inning, the Cutters started with back-to-back singles from JM Long and Lawson Knight, who both moved into scoring position on a Connor Shouse groundout to first. Both would find home plate during Jackson Mayo's at-bat as Long scored on a wild pitch while Knight was driven in on a Mayo single, dropping the Cutters deficit to three runs at 9-6 in the middle of the sixth.
Trenton would respond once again in the bottom of the frame thanks to a Sac Fly to break into double digits, pushing their lead back to four runs at 10-6 after six innings.
With one out in the six, Williamsport would load the bases wiht a single from Carter Dorighi, the debuting Collin Reuter being hit by a pitch, and a walk by JM Long. This would bring pinch-hitter, Hughesville native, and Bucknell Bison product Jacob Corson to the plate for his first at-bat as a Williamsport Crosscutters player.
Corson would single to right in his pinch-hit opportunity, driving in Dorighi. This spark would be what the Cutters needed to open up the floodgates offensively as Connor Shouse recorded an RBI groundout, Jackson Mayo walked, Max Mandler worked an RBI walk, and Riley Nelson picked up an RBI single to tie the game at 10-10.
The Cutters kept their foot on the gas, retaking the lead for the first time since the start of the game on a 2 RBI double off the bat of Joshua Lopez, followed by an RBI single from Carter Dorighi to cap the scoring for the night at 13-10 after seven innings.
Due to a lack of rested pitchers available, the decision was made to call the game following eight innings in favor of Williamsport 13-10.
Kyle LaCalameto made his Williamsport Crosscutters debut as tonight's starter, going 4.0 innings in the start and surrendering 8 hits, seven runs, all earned, while walking 2 and striking out 3 in a no decision.
Daniel Barcena earned his first win in his second appearance in a Cutters uniform after 2.0 innings of relief, allowing 3 Thunder runs, all earned, on 4 hits with two walks and one strikeout.
Two-way player Dalton Robinson, one night following his pitching debut at Journey Bank Ballpark, returned to the mound to earn his first save of the season, going the final 2.0 innings allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out three.
Tonight's win moves the Crosscutters to 3-1 on the young season and they remain in a tie at the top of the MLB Draft League First Half standings with the rival State College Spikes.
Williamsport returns to Trenton Thunder Ballpark tomorrow for Game #2 of this three-game road series against Trenton. First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with live video coverage available on Crosscutters.com and the MLB.tv App.
Cutters Carvings – Connor Shouse, Jackson Mayo and Joshua Lopez all recorded three-hit nights…Connor Shouse, Jackson Mayo, Max Mandler, and Joshua Lopez all recorded multiple RBI's…Williamsport was 10-20 (.500) as a team with runners in scoring position in the contest…
