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Scrappers win to end homestand

Tribune Chronicle / Eric Murray Mahoning Valley Scrappers Nolan Jones, left, waits for a pitch during Monday’s game against State College at Eastwood Field in Niles. Spikes catcher Tyler Lancaster, right, is also pictured. The Scrappers defeated State College, 5-1.

NILES — The Mahoning Valley Scrappers capped off their six-game homestand with another solid offensive performance in a 5-1 victory over State College Monday night.

Six different Scrappers combined for 11 hits, as MV has now scored 24 runs in its last five games.

“I think the one thing that stood out is our aggressiveness,” Scrappers hitting coach Pete Lauritson said. “If you look at the overall swing percentage, it has to be over 50 percent as a team. I think that’s good for these young guys.

“You can always trim off the fat. If they were taking a ton of pitches, taking a ton of strikes, I’d be pretty concerned about that. But they’re being really aggressive early in the count — even with two strikes.”

After stranding runners in scoring position in the first and second innings, the Scrappers got on the board in the bottom of the third. Tyler Friis and Samad Taylor led off the inning with singles, before Ulysses Cantu drew a walk to load the bases.

Tribune Chronicle / Eric Murray Mahoning Valley’s Samad Taylor, left, talks to Scrappers manager Luke Carlin at third base during Monday’s game against State College in Niles.

A Nolan Jones single on a soft grounder to first base brought home Friis to give MV the lead. A Johnathan Laureano sacrifice fly to right field brought in a tagging Taylor to extend the Scrapper lead to 2-0.

State College starting pitcher Jonathan Mulford showed good movement on his pitches, but the surging Scrapper offense still managed five hits and three walks off of him. Mulford was chased after four innings, throwing 78 pitches — with only 45 strikes, and just three strikeouts along the way.

According to Lauritson, the aggressive nature of the Scrapper hitters allowed them to thrive once again on Monday.

“We preach (to them), ‘Every count should be an 0-0 count. Don’t try to mix and match and overguess it and overthink it,’ “ Lauritson said. “Especially at this level — just stick to it, treat every count like it’s an 0-0 count and just get a good swing off. I think they’re really sticking to that.”

Despite the pitching change to start the bottom of the fifth inning, the Spikes (4-4) could not find their pitching groove. Cantu started off the inning with a blast to left center field, followed by a Jason Rodriguez two-out double to right field, scoring Will Benson to extend MV’s lead to 4-0.

The Scrappers carried a 5-1 lead into the top of the ninth, when two Spikes reached base with two outs. Caleb Lopes’ flyball to deep left field was caught in front of the wall by Laureano, giving the Scrappers their fourth win of the homestand.

Taylor and Cantu each went 3 for 4, as the Scrappers (5-3) now start a six-game road trip on Wednesday in West Virginia. The road trip will be the first lengthy road trip for many of the Scrapper players in their young minor league careers, and the first long baseball road trip ever for players like Cantu, a high school draft pick in 2016.

“Honestly, I’ve never been on a long road trip like this. I’m sure none of these guys really have either,” Cantu said. “Having a six-game (road trip), we’re just gonna see how that goes. We’re just gonna have to keep playing relaxed and the road trip will be a little tough — just to get bus rides, your muscles getting tight. But we’re just gonna have to find a way to stay with our routine and we got to get ready for all the games ahead.”

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