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Miners earn split with Mill Rats

gary fauber, the register-herald, beckley, w.va.
·4 min read

Aug. 2—The West Virginia Miners earned a doubleheader split with the Johnstown Mill Rats on Monday, but the Mill Rats came out of it in better shape.

Both teams won by 8-7 scores at Linda K. Epling Stadium.

The Mill Rats dropped the nightcap to end a four-game winning streak, but are in good position to win the Ohio River Valley Division's second playoff spot. They are 13-11 in the second half, while the Miners dropped to 8-13.

Champion City sits between them at 10-12.

The first three innings of game two were a bit unusual.

The Miners scored three runs on Johnstown starter Luke Ferguson's first six pitches. Silas Butler, Devin Hooper, Alex Christie and Eddie Leon all jumped on the first pitch — doubles by Hooper and Christie resulting in runs. Blake Lazaris then hit a sacrifice fly on a 1-0 pitch to drive in Christie and the Miners led 3-0 after one.

But Johnstown was able to score two runs in the second and again in the third with just one out as Miners starter Tyler Lafferty lost control of the strike zone.

He walked Lukas Torres and Pete Capobianco to lead off the second. Torres eventually made it to third and scored on a balk, and Joe Capobianco's sacrifice fly drove in his brother Pete to make it 3-2.

Consecutive walks again, these to Joe Alcorn and Matt Santarelli, started the third. They both moved up on a passed ball and then scored on back-to-back wild pitches to put Johnstown ahead 4-3.

Lafferty saved his best inning for last, getting the Mill Rats in order in the fourth. He struck out Santarelli on his 94th pitch, then the Miners got him off the hook in the bottom half when Hooper drove in Peyton Brown with a two-out single to tie the game at 4-4.

Booker's infield single to score Torres put the Mill Rats back on top in the fifth before the Miners took control with three runs in the bottom half.

Leon led off with a double and Lazaris walked, and Leon scored the tying run on a single by Connor Fizer.

Wyatt Crisp walked to load the bases before Brown struck out and Henry Jamieson popped out on the infield, but Butler walked to force in Lazaris for a 6-5 lead. Fizer then scored on a wild pitch for the insurance run.

The Miners added a run in the sixth when Christie scored on a double play that resulted in Lazaris being called out because of interference by Leon while sliding into second.

Charlie Joyce worked the final two innings to save it for Braden Austin (1-0). He survived a wild seventh inning in which the Mill Rats scored twice but stranded runners at first and second to end it.

In the opener, the Mill Rats led off the top of the seventh inning with three consecutive doubles to take a two-run lead and held on for an 8-7 win.

Andrew Kribbs scored after he and Billy Adams hit back-to-back doubles to right off Leon (1-2). Alcorn followed with a double to center to drive in Adams for an 8-6 lead.

Lazaris led off the bottom half with a triple and scored on Hooper's groundout to get the Miners within a run, but Noah Canterbury struck out looking to end it.

Johnstown led 4-0 early, keyed by a two-run double by Sam Mast in a three-run first. The Miners were then able to take a 5-4 lead with two runs in the second and three more in the fourth. The second was keyed by a two-run double from Reid Douglas, and Henry Jamieson and Christie had run-scoring singles in the fourth.

Pete Capobianco walked with the bases loaded and Necumba Booker Jr. was hit by a pitch to drive in another run as Johnstown reclaimed the lead in the sixth, but an RBI double by Butler helped the Miners tie it at 6 before the pivotal seventh.

The Miners will hit the road for a four-game road trip, including a doubleheader Tuesday at Champion City. Johnstown will visit the Kings Wednesday and Thursday after a day off Tuesday.

The Miners and Mill Rats will meet again in Beckley Friday for another doubleheader (5:05 p.m.) and the regular season finale/Fireworks Night on Saturday (6:35 p.m.).