The Mahoning Valley Scrappers welcomed a tough Brooklyn Cyclones team to Eastwood Field.  Unfortunately for the Scrappers, they came out on the wrong side of a 10-6 verdict.  The Scrappers were hurt by some very good Brooklyn hitting in the early innings and never gained enough footing in the loss, surrendering four of the runs on wild pitches that went to the backstop.

In the first inning, the Scrappers raced out to a 1-0 lead.  Bryson Myles and Tony Wolters hit identical singles up the middle.  Coach David Wallace, always a risk taker on the bags, pulled off a double steal.  Jake Lowery then hit a fielders choice that got Wolters home for the early lead, which marked the only time the Scrappers would be ahead.

Brooklyn rebounded and rattled off six unanswered runs and took a 6-1 lead by the time they were done batting in the sixth.  The Cyclones got two of the runs when runners on third base advanced home on wild pitches.  Richard Lucas had the big shot in the fifth with a two-run double.  Brooklyn would also score their eighth run on a wild pitch.

The Scrappers clawed back into the game in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Alex Lavisky had a two-run double that broke the offensive struggles for the home team.  Todd Hankins also knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly.  Brooklyn avoided further damage and held a 6-4 lead going into the last third of the game.

The fun stuff started happening in the sixth inning.  Celebrating my birthday at Eastwood Field doesn’t bother me one bit, in fact, I welcome the atmosphere. Scott Hansen, someone who I can call a friend, runs the line portion of the scoreboard and knew it was my birthday.  Hansen told the people doing the birthday stuff and they put Paneech from Paneech dot com on the scoreboard, wishing me a Happy Birthday.  Hansen and I always buy $5 worth of 50/50 tickets every home game.  Going into Friday, we were 0-114.  We happened to hit.  1-115.  Rob Schmidt was sick of saying my name.

Scrappers starter Mason Radeke only went two innings throwing just under 50 pitches.  Harold Guerrero took the loss in relief.  Nate Striz uncorked four wild pitches and didn’t finish the eighth inning.  Will Krasne relieved Striz to finish things up for Mahoning Valley.

Brooklyn got a decent start out of Carlos Vazquez, who picked up the win for the Cyclones.  Frank Viola, a World Series MVP for the Twins in 1987, is the Cyclones pitching coach.

Hankins (above) finished the game 1-3 with two RBI’s and a stolen base.  Tony Wolters chipped in with a pair of hits, as did Bryson Myles and Lavisky.  Jerrud Sabourin also collected a pair of knocks for the Scrappers.

The Scrappers (32-23) and Cyclones (31-24) go at it again for two more games on Saturday and Sunday.  On Monday, the league takes two days off for the annual All-Star Break.  The All-Star Game will be played in Lowell, home of the Spinners.  Wolters and Myles join Jordan Smith and Danny Jimenez as NY Penn League All-Stars.

“I was really happy with Bryson Myles tonight”, said Wallace.  “He continues to find ways to get on base and has had some really good at-bats.  I am also happy with Jerrud Sabourin, he had a couple of big hits but worked deep into the count a couple of times and put the bat on the ball.”