University Park, Pa. - A night after dropping a back-and-forth battle, the Williamsport Crosscutters rebounded to defeat the State College Spikes 12-3 on Wednesday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Williamsport got the scoring started tonight in the top of the second inning as James McCoy singled to center field. Two batters later, he was driven home by on a double to left by Matthew Williams for the early 1-0 lead.
The Cutters offense really came to life in the third inning, striking for five runs while sending nine to the plate. Chris Stanfield led off with a single and stole second base before a walk by Owen Prince. Ehi Okojie doubled, plating both Stanfield and Prince. Two batters later, Okojie would score on the second home run of the season by James McCoy. Sam DeCarlo immediately followed that up with a double and scored on a Matthew Williams single to make it 6-0 in favor of Williamsport in the middle of the third.
It would take until the sixth for Williamsport to find the scoreboard again as the debuting Joey DeMucci, a product of Penn State, would single, advance to second on a throw and score on a Chris Stanfield single to make it 7-0 in the middle of the sixth.
In the seventh, Williamsport would strike again as a James McCoy single followed by walks by Sam DeCarlo and Matthew Williams loaded the bases for Jake Zitella. Zitella would single through the left side, scoring both McCoy and DeCarlo to push the Cutters lead to 9-0 at stretch time.
The runs kept coming in the eighth for Williamsport as well with another bases loaded opportunity paying off. As Nick Barone stood at third after reaching on a fielders choice, James McCoy at second after a walk and Sam DeCarlo at first after a walk, Matthew Williams hit a bases clearing double to center to push the lead and cap the scoring for Williamsport at 12-0.
State College would get three runs back over the final two innings to bring the game to it's final score of 12-3 in favor of the Williamsport Crosscutters.
Reigning MLB Draft League Pitcher of the Week David Case got the start and picked up right where he left off, earning his first win of the season in five innings of shutout starting pitching, allowing just three hits while striking out five, dropping his ERA to 0.82 on the season.
Frankie Sanchez entered in relief and went the next 2 1/3 innings, allowing two Spikes runs on six hits with one strikeout.
Preston Drebes went the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing one unearned Spikes run on one hit with three strikeouts.
With tonight's win, Williamsport improves to 5-2 in the second half and remains tied with the Aberdeen IronBirds for 1st Place in the MLB Draft League 2nd Half Standings.
Williamsport and State College meet one more time at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on Thursday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to decide the series winner. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Cutters Carvings - Five Williamsport batters collected three hits in tonight's victory, topping the high water mark of four against the State College Spikes on July 4th... Matthew Williams' 5 RBI night is the fourth time this season a Cutters player had 5 RBI in a single game... David Case has not allowed a walk in his 11.0 IP this season...
