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NILES -- The Mahoning Valley Scrappers entered a three-game weekend home series against Trenton hoping to gain ground on the first-place Thunder in the MLB Draft League standings.
Mission accomplished!
After falling to Trenton in the series-opener on Friday, the Scrappers won two straight to take the series. On Saturday, it was a seven-run victory. The Scrappers followed with a 6-2 win over Trenton on Sunday in what was the final meeting of the season between the two teams.
The Scrappers (34-33/ 18-15) now trail the Thunder (33-31 / 19-13) by 1.5 games. Both teams have nine games remaining on their schedule.
Mahoning Valley scored all the runs it would need early, courtesy of a five-run second inning. Drey Dirksen delivered the big blow in the inning with a three-run homer over the centerfield wall.
In the sixth, Dirksen added an RBI double to knock in his fourth run of the game. Jake Allgeyer went 2-for-4 to lift his batting average to .355. Dreylin Holmes also went 2-for-4 with an RBI to boost his batting average to .336.
Joey Butz worked six innings, giving up just one run on four hits to pick up the win. A trio of Scrappers relievers worked the final three innings, holding the Thunder to one run on two hits.
The Scrappers return to Eastwood Field Tuesday to begin a three-game set against Frederick -- their final home series of the season.
BUTZ BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS
For most of his baseball career, Mahoning Valley Scrappers pitcher Joey Butz never imagined he'd find himself in the middle of the diamond hurling fastballs toward home plate.
Butz grew up playing multiple fielding positions, mainly in the infield. While at Heritage Christian High School (Indianapolis, IN), Butz was told by his coach that he likely had a career as a hitter at the collegiate level.
And, Butz responded by belting a home run in his very first at-bat as a freshman at Huntington University (IN).
Yet shortly after that homer, Butz's coach made a suggestion that caught the first baseman off-guard.
"The coaching staff just saw something in my arm and felt I had a lot of potential as a pitcher," Butz said. "To this day, I always joke with those coaches that my home run wasn't good enough.
"I began the transition from infielder to pitcher right away. There was a lot to learn, and I'm still learning today. I'm still very much learning the art of pitching. But I couldn't be more pleased with the way everything worked out throughout my entire college career. I'm not just talking about baseball. The entire experience was massively rewarding."
In fact, Butz spent all five of his college years at Huntington -- a small NAIA school -- passing up opportunities to transfer to larger programs which might have presented more exposure to scouts.
Along the way, he earned a bachelor's degree in sports management and a master's in business management. And, he says he earned valuable life lessons and made lifelong friends.
"Being a small NAIA school, it was very blue-collar," Butz said. "We fixed our own field, we raised our own money for trips, we put in all the work necessary in order to keep the program alive. It wasn't a turnoff. Actually, it really created a bond within the program. I loved the experience. The coaches pushed me to be the best player and person I could be, they were by my side the entire time."
Butz noted that his freshman baseball class included eight players. Of those, seven remained at the school and with the baseball program for five years.
"The relationships we built over the years meant more to us than transferring out," Butz said. "The culture was something special. At the end of the day baseball ends for everybody regardless of what level you reach. Those relationships are going to last forever."
With a master's degree secured, Butz knows that a business career is in his future. But for the short term, Butz is eager to find out whether or not he has what it takes to climb the corporate ladder in baseball. He joined up with the MLB Draft League in part because he feels as though he has yet to reach his full potential as a pitcher.
"I was very raw as a pitcher that first year of college," Butz said. "During each off-season I was working with coaches who were all very patient with me, giving me a bit of a leash to figure out what I was comfortable with while pushing me to be the best I could be.
"I'm still working on repeatability, just trying to do things for more than one, two, three innings and being able to go deeper into a game while still having control of all four of my pitches. I'm comfortable out there on the mound, but it would be ignorant for me to say that I've learned it all. I'm still growing as a pitcher. That's why I'm here."
Regardless of what happens once the Scrappers' season ends in early September, Butz says his time spent at Eastwood Field this summer will pay dividends in his future.
"It would be nice to get signed, or maybe get picked up by an Indy League team next year, that's the goal of everyone here," Butz said. "If not, I'll move on to wherever the Lord takes me knowing I gave it my all. Either way, the experience has been outstanding, and I've been surrounded by another great group of guys. Again, it's about those relationships that will last long beyond our playing days."
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