STATE COLLEGE, P.A. – On a wet and rainy Saturday night in Happy Valley, the Williamsport Crosscutters avoided the sweep as they downed the rival State College Spikes 5-1 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
The Williamsport offense started early with DH Mark Laird leading off the game with a single and followed that up by advancing to second on a wild pitch by State College starter Bryan Dobzanski. After a Gamboa strikeout, David Martinelli would pick up a single to right field to score Laird to give the Crosscutters an early 1-0 lead.
That wouldn’t be the end of the offense in the top of the first, as Brett Barbier followed up Martinelli’s single with one of his own, and two batters later Henri Lartigue would turn a 0-2 count into a walk to load up the bases for Luke Maglich.
Maglich would drill the ball to the wall in right-center field, scoring Martinelli, Barbier, and Lartigue with a three-RBI triple to push the Williamsport lead to 4-0 after just a half-inning.
The Spikes would answer just as fast with their lead-off man, second baseman Tommy Edmin lifting a 1-1 pitch from Crosscutters starter Cole Irvin into the right field bleachers for a solo homerun to make it a 4-1 game. This would be the only time the Spikes would see a runner cross home plate for the night.
In the third inning, the Crosscutters would see their lead return to four. First baseman Brett Barbier would strikeout to lead-off the inning, but a dropped third strike combined with a throwing error by Catcher Riley Drongesen would allow Barbier to reach first base safely.
Luke Williams, batting behind Barbier, would hit a swinging infield bunt single to move Barbier to second, but a throwing error by Pitcher Bryan Dobzanski while attempting to gun down Williams at first would allow Barbier to score from second and Williams to move up to third, giving the Crosscutters a 5-1 lead in the middle of the third inning.
That would be the end of the scoring in a rain-soaked game, as the Williamsport Crosscutters would carry that 5-1 lead to avoid the sweep against the State College Spikes.
Starting pitcher Cole Irvin would throw five complete innings giving up three hits, one of which was the home run in the first, while walking one batter and striking out five. Irvin got the win to improve to 2-1 on the season and his ERA is now at 1.65.
The Crosscutters bullpen would take over in the sixth inning, with Blake Quinn earning a Hold as he gave up three hits while walking two and striking out two. “The Big Show” Will Hibbs would close things out in the ninth forcing a groundout and two flyouts to retire the Spikes in order.
With the win, the Crosscutters improve their record to 25-16, two games behind the Spikes in the Pinckney Division. Williamsport continues to hold onto the Wild Card spot as they have a 2.5 game lead over the Staten Island Yankees and a three game lead over the Connecticut Tigers and the Tri-City ValleyCats.
With the series against State College now complete, the Crosscutters move on to Niles, Ohio to open a three-game series against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. LHP JoJo Romero is scheduled to get the start for the Crosscutters. Romero has a 0-0 record in four appearances this season, and has a 3.55 ERA. First pitch from Eastwood Field is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.
Cutters Carvings – Mark Laird went a perfect 4-4 tonight, recording four singles, a walk, and a run scored… Luke Maglich’s triple in the first inning was his third triple of the year… The Crosscutters put runners on base in every inning except the ninth inning… With tonight’s win, the Crosscutters have continued to avoid being swept by a Pinckney Division opponent…
