Armas Slams Door On Scrappers

Williamsport, P.A.- Gustavo Armas was removed from his starter role before the game, but that did not stop him from dominating the Scrappers, slamming the door on a Crosscutters 6-1 win.

Jahilyn Ortiz got his night started off right, sending a Felix Tati offering to deep right-center for a double, scoring Nick Maton and Josh Stephen to give the Crosscutters an early 2-0 lead. It gave Ortiz his 10th and 11th RBI of the season.

Jason Rodriguez got the Scrappers on the board in the top of the 2nd inning against Williamsport starter Spencer Howard, singling home Nolan Jones to cut the Cutters lead to 2-1.

Nick Maton got that run back in the bottom of the frame, singling home Austin Listi from 2nd base to give the Cutters a 3-1 lead. It was the 2nd RBI of the season for Maton, who finished the night 3 for 4 with three singles.

Jhon Nunez replaced Spencer Howard in the top of the 3rd inning. Howard went two innings, allowing one run on two hits while walking two and striking out four in his professional debut.

Ortiz went right back to work in the bottom of the 3rd, one-hopping the wall in center for his 2nddouble, chasing home Jake Scheiner to extend the Williamsport lead to 4-1. The RBI gave Ortiz his team-leading 12th of the season

Nunez was replaced by Connor Seabold in the top of the 4th inning. Nunez allowed one hit in a shutout inning of relief, good enough to earn his 1st win of the season.

Williamsport loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the 5th inning. Reliever Riley Echols uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Haseley to sprint home and score just a head of an errant throw from Scrappers catcher Jason Rodriguez. The error allowed Jake Scheiner to score from 2nd base giving the Cutters a 6-1 lead.

On the play, Austin Listi was retired at 3rd base to end the inning and the Cutters threat.

Connor Seabold was outstanding in his professional debut, tossing two shutout innings, allowing just a walk and striking out three Scrappers hitters before being relieved by Gustavo Armas in the top of the 6th inning.

Armas did the rest, tossing four shutout innings, allowing just three base hits while striking out a season-high eight Mahoning Valley batters en route to a 12-out save, his first save of the season.

With the win the Crosscutters finished the first quarter of the season with a 10-9 record and gave manager Pat Borders his 95th win in Williamsport, passing Andy Stewart for the most managerial wins in Crosscutters history.

The Crosscutters wrap up their three-game series with Mahoning Valley tomorrow as Will Stewarttakes to the hill. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 p.m. at BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field.

Cutter Carvings – Crosscutters pitching combined for 15 strikeouts tonight, totaling 32 strikeouts through the first two games of the series… Andy Stewart manged the Crosscutters in the 2002 & 2003 seasons…Williamsport got the lead off man aboard five times, scoring him four times in the win…