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Progress finally leads to victory at home

NILES – During the Scrappers’ five-game losing streak, there’s been steady progression in the eyes of Mahoning Valley manager Travis Fryman.

Fans and players may have had a hard time seeing that growth through all the slumps and blunders, but the improvement was evident in the Scrappers’ first home victory of the year, a 2-1 win that handed the Williamsport Crosscutters (10-1) their first loss the season.

“Each of the last three games has been progressively a little bit better,” Fryman said. “We played a couple of really nice ballgames on the road, but there were some sloppy ones as well. What was encouraging today was better at-bats. We had 10 hits, which we hadn’t come close to having – I think we had four, five – the last couple games. We had a little more aggressive approach. We came into the box ready to hit.”

Two young prospects helped make sure the Scrappers (4-7) busted out of their slump (they were outscored 22-5 and shutout three times during the five-game skid).

MV starting pitcher Shao-Ching Chiang, a 21-year-old non-drafted free agent from Taiwan picked up by Cleveland in 2011, allowed one run on three hits in five innings. He struck out two and didn’t walk a batter. Chiang, who threw 34 of his 43 pitches for strikes, could’ve continued to pitch, but Scrappers pitching coach Greg Hibbard said players are on a pitch/inn-ings count (75 pitches or five innings). Chiang, who’s allowed one run and five hits in 11 innings this year, made the best of his five.

“He did a good job establishing his fastball to both sides of the plate,” Hibbard said. “He pitched in well to both left- and right-handed hitters, and then that second time through the lineup, he started mixing in his curveball and some of his secondary pitches. He put together a few really good sequences where he attacked with his fastball and finished them with his breaking ball. Just overall a great performance.”

An 18-year-old shortstop with what looks to be a bright future staked Chiang to an early lead – the Scrappers’ first in nearly a week.

Willi Castro, who was picked up as a non-drafted free agent by the Indians when he was just 16, smacked a two-run double to right-center field in the second inning. The ball wasn’t hit that hard, but the speedy Castro hustled out of the box and slid into second safely.

Castro, from Puerto Rico, finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. He also made some slick plays at shortstop, something he’s done a lot during MV’s homestand.

“I’ve had him for two years as the infield instructor for the Indians, and he’s an extremely talented young man,” Fryman said. “He has a lot of passion for the game. He loves to play. He’s very hard on himself. His biggest issue is that sometimes the game speeds up on him, and then if he makes a mistake, he gets frustrated and he compounds that mistake. He did that two nights ago. He had an error, got angry and made another error two batters later. That’s where Willi’s working to mature, but talent wise, he’s an extremely gifted young man.”

The bullpen made sure that Castro’s two RBIs were all the Scrappers needed, and it’s a good thing because MV stranded 11 runners.

Brock Hartson, a 21-year-old pitcher drafted this year in the 21st round out of University of Texas-San Antonio, tossed three shutout innings, allowing one hit while striking out two and walking one. Hibbard said Hartson executed his role perfectly.

“We went to Hartson there because this team (Williamsport) is very aggressive, and he has a good feel for his changeup and above-average command of his fastball,” Hibbard said. “This team is real good on the early heaters. They swing at the fastball pretty good early in the count, so I felt like (Hartson) was going to be able to locate and still attack the gameplan that we had established.”

Jose Zapata pitched the ninth, getting the first two outs before allowing a walk. He induced a tapper back to the mound to end the game. Hibbard believes Zapata could be a closer in the future.

“He’s definitely a back-end guy,” he said. “Whether he’s a closer or a set-up guy, he’s got a lot of value. He can give you three innings. He can pitch the ninth. He can start. Right now, he’s pretty valuable.”

The Scrappers travel to Batavia for a three-game series starting tonight. They return home for a three-game series Saturday.

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