Posts Tagged ‘David Wallace’

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers opened the 2011 season with mixed results.  The good news is that the Scrappers improved over last seasons 14-0 Opening Day drubbing.  The bad news was that they are 0-1, like last year, falling 9-3 to the Jamestown Jammers.   The good news was that it was fireworks night and a great turnout for the home opener which included good weather.  The bad news was that the video board and wifi did not work.  In the end, the Jordan Taylor / David Wallace Era of Scrapperhood was a solid success despite the game result.

In front of a crowd of 5,428, the Scrappers fell into a 6-0 hole after Jamestown batted three times.  Scrapper starter, Joseph Colon, threw 65 pitches and struggled with his control in less than three innings.  Colon will have better days.

In the bottom of the third, Mahoning Valley found the scoreboard.  Aaron Siliga hit a routine grounder to short, but Yefri Perez’s throw to Jammers 1B Viosergy Rosa was lost in the sun and sailed to the wall.  Siliga ended up at second on the play.  A Cody Elliott groundout to second advanced Siliga to third with one out.  Kevin Fontanez then hit a fly ball to right, just deep enough to score Siliga to get the goose egg off of the scoreboard.

Starting catcher, Alex Livisky, collected a pair of hits in his first two at-bats.  Livisky, from Lakewood, Ohio, had four really good at-bats in which he demonstrated the ability to put the ball anywhere, an invaluable quality for an up-and-coming minor leaguer.   In the bottom of the fourth, Livisky scored when Jerrud Sabourin hit a rocket into the right-centerfield gap.

After the game, Livisky (above) talked about his success at the dish.  “Here, I have to be more of a dynamic hitter.  In high school, it is easy to pull everything to left field.  I have really been working on going with the pitch that is thrown to me, taking what I am given and pushing the ball where it needs to go.  I dug myself a hole, and my power numbers were okay at Lake County, but my average suffered.  I hit eight home runs and drove in 25 during Spring training, but my average was inconsistent, and that is what I need to focus on here. I would have three good games and then fall under the bus again.”

In the sixth, Bryson Myles singled and stole second.  He would later score when Perez mishandled a nasty one-hopper off of the bat of Sabourin.  Myles had a rough night in right field.  He slipped when he misjudged a fly ball and could not recover, allowing a Jammers run to cross the plate.  He also dove forward for a ball later in the game that got by him and rolled to the wall.  This kid is going to be one of the best players on this team by seasons end and it is a shame that he got off to such a rocky start in Niles.

Jamestown, however, would jump their lead to 9-3 when Brent Keys hit a towering shot over the right field wall to wrap up the scoring.  The same two teams face off tomorrow evening at Eastwood Field.

After the game, Wallace was very positive.  “There is plenty of good stuff that happened out there tonight, we are by no means in a state of panic in this clubhouse. We saw a lot of positives and I felt like we were always in the game and did not give up.  Obviously, these guys are still learning each others name and strengths and weaknesses, but I am pleased with the talent we have here and we are going to be okay.”

There is one predictable group of people you can never expect to see return to Eastwood Field from year-to-year, the players.  Some Mahoning Valley Scrappers get promoted during the season, some are reassigned for better or for worse, and some are no longer in the Major League Baseball system anymore.  Because the Scrappers are a short-season, Low-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, they usually get the majority of the Tribes draft picks from less than two weeks ago.  You can have a favorite player, but usually only for a year, then you have to wait to find out who your new favorite Scrapper will be next season.

There are three returning Scrappers from last season on the 2011 roster.  Kevin Fontanez (waiving in yellow shirt, top photo) was only 19 last season and got some valuable experience at second base.  Moises Montero battled injuries and played through probably more pain than he should have last season.  Kirk Wetmore, a 2009, 11th round draft pick, was in the starting rotation for awhile last season but struggled down the stretch.  All three of these players are promotable but have been kept as Scrappers to continue to develop.

“I worked out hard in the offseason and feel like I can really have a good year”, commented Montero.  “Last season, I was pretty banged up and toughed it out, but I was not one-hundred percent for most of the season.”

Then the unexpected new faces started popping up everywhere.  Travis Fryman accepted a promotion to be a roving instructor for the Indians.  This opened the door for new head coach, David Wallace (above), a former Scrapper himself.  I admired the way Fryman played in his day, but I really took a liking to his personality and managing style over the past two seasons.  Wallace has very big shoes to fill.

Wallace brings Greg Hibbard on as a pitching coach and Tony Mansolino to be his new hitting coach.  Hibbard pitched in the majors for six seasons, mostly with the Chicago White Sox.  Gone is pitching coach Ken Rowe, a legend in the press box for his 45 second walks to the mound, the 8 seconds of dialogue he would give the pitcher, and the fifty-five second return flight back to the dugout.

Jordan Taylor also has big shoes to fill as the new general manager.  Taylor, who learned plenty under the guidance of former GM Dave Smith, is capable of doing great work with his staff.  He has already been very accessible, as Smith was, to any requests or questions anyone has posed.

If you catch the games on the radio, you will not hear last years voice of the Scrappers, Dave Lubich, anymore.  His internship is over making way for newcomer Grant Tunkel.  Tunkel had some good experience with the Jamestown Jammers last season and should be an entertaining play-by-play announcer for the Scrappers.

One constant thing that has not changed in 13 years is the Scrappers Backers Club.  With colorful personalities like Larry Snyder and Gail Drushel (below, with microphone) leading the way, the Scrappers Backers do so many good things behind the scenes.  It might be the hardest working fund-raising bunch in sports.

Wednesday evening the Scrappers Backers gave scholarships to Hayley Goist of Columbiana, Richard Selep of Southington Chalker, Taylor Ward and Aaron Oblisk from Sebring.  They also held a picnic for all season ticket holders, Scrappers Backers members, and the 2011 roster of coaches and players.  There was a silent auction, an autograph session, and an introduction of all team members and coaches.  The neat part was watching the players interact, most of them only seeing each other for a few minutes to that point.

The Scrappers kick off the 2011 season at home Friday night against Jamestown, which happens to be fireworks night as well.  Should be a packed house for the opener!  Call the box office for ticket availability at 330-505-0000.