GRANVILLE, W. Va. - Moving into the final two weeks of the MLB Draft League season and with the MLB Draft League Championship Game on the horizon, the Williamsport Crosscutters showed they could be peaking at the right time as they took the middle game of this series against the West Virginia Black Bears by a final score of 12-1 at Kendrick Family Ballpark on Friday night.
History was also made tonight by Chris Stanfield as he stole two bases to bring his season total to 37, breaking the MLB Draft League record of 36 that was held by Trenton’s Aaron Whitley (’25) and Frederick’s Trey Lipsey (’25).
Williamsport opened up the scoring tonight in the second as Chris Stanfield reached on a bunt single to third and advanced to second on a throwing error by the third baseman. Nick Barone's single would move Stanfield to third. With runners on the corners, Barone would get in a rundown between first and second on a pickoff attempt, allowing Stanfield to steal home to score the first run of the game.
The Cutters scored another run in the third inning as James McCoy worked a two-out walk, stole second, and came home thanks to a fielding error in center field to make it 2-0 in the middle of the third.
The top of the fifth inning would see Williamsport strike once again. Joey DeMucci started it off with a bunt single, AJ Solomon walked and Jack Kail singled on another bunt to load the bases for James McCoy.
McCoy would pick up his 16th double of the season to left, plating both DeMucci and Solomon.
Three batters later, Chris Stanfield would add a 2 RBI single to center, scoring both Kail and McCoy before making history by stealing second for his record-breaking 37th stolen base of the season. Stanfield would be left stranded but Williamsport would take a 6-0 lead into the middle of the fifth inning.
Not content with their already large lead, Williamsport added another run in the sixth as Sam DeCarlo singled to start the inning, took second on a wild pitch and scored on a fielder's choice that was hit into by Jack Kail.
West Virginia would finally find the scoreboard in the bottom of the seventh, using two doubles to plate one run, trimming the Williamsport lead to 7-1.
The ninth inning would see Williamsport add insurance runs with the long ball. After back-to-back walks by AJ Solomon and Jack Kail to start the frame, James McCoy would send the ball over the left-center field wall for his team leading ninth home run of the season, moving one ahead of Matthew Williams' eight.
McCoy would only stay ahead for one at-bat as Williams also put a pitch over the left-center field wall, also his ninth home run of the season and pushing the Williamsport lead to 11-1.
Nicholas Romano singled after the back-to-back home runs and two batters later scored on Sam DeCarlo's seventh double of the season, giving the Cutters an eleven run lead heading to the bottom of the ninth.
West Virginia would use a lead-off walk and a double to get their second and final run of the game in the bottom of the ninth as the Crosscutters took the 12-2 victory.
David Case improved to 4-2 on the season on the mound with his five inning win in the start, shutting out the Black Bears and allowing just two hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
Tyler Muscar and Kenney Fabian split the final four innings in a non-save situation with each allowing one run on two hits. Muscar would record four strikeouts in his two innings while Fabian struck out two and walked one.
Williamsport will now go for the three-game series sweep of West Virginia on Saturday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
Cutters Carvings - Aberdeen and Williamsport remain tied for 1st Place in the MLB Draft League Second Half Standings as Aberdeen defeated Mahoning Valley 3-1... James McCoy used his two extra base hits tonight to record five RBI, bringing his season total to 45... 2025 Williamsport Crosscutters pitcher Reilley Shafer was the starter tonight for West Virginia and took the loss, falling to 1-1 on the season and 2-6 over his two seasons in the league...
