Mill Rats pop CornBelters in seven for fourth straight win
· Yahoo Sports
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Caden Throneberry’s two hits led to four RBIs in the Johns- town Mill Rats’ 13-3 win over the Normal CornBelters Friday night at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.
Both became critical moments in the Mill Rats’ fourth straight win.
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With Normal up 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, Throneberry swatted a two-run home run over the screen in left-center field, collecting Jack Newman from first in the process.
Then with Johns- town ahead 4-3 in the fifth after Newman doubled in Austin Lafferty, Throneberry rolled a single through the middle to bring in Ty Marsh and Newman.
Johnstown (8-7) rolled from there, tallying seven runs in the seventh to bring an early end to the contest.
While both hits had impact in the Mill Rats’ runaway win, it didn’t take long for the Missouri product to identify which was more satisfying.
“Definitely the home run,” Throneberry said. “It just felt really good off the bat. I knew it as soon as I hit it. It was just a great feeling to come through for the team.”
The roundtripper came off Normal starter Tucker King, who gave Throneberry what he was seeking in that moment.
“I was just sitting fastball and he gave me one,” Throneberry said. “It was a high fastball, and I was on time and I got to it.”
It was part of Johns- town’s 12-hit barrage against the combined efforts of six CornBelters pitchers. The half-dozen of hurlers also uncorked a total of six wild pitches and seven walks.
The 3-6 hitters in the Johns- town order collected 11 of the team’s hits with Marsh, Newman and Caleb Rey picking up three knocks apiece. Marsh and Newman each scored twice, while Newman also delivered two RBIs of his own.
That’s not to say that the pitching and defense didn’t do their respective parts in limiting the CornBelters to three hits.
“We had some big knocks,” Mill Rats manager Tyler Smith said. “The offense put together stuff.
“It was a great day all around. Pitchers threw well. We played defense, as well.”
A night after the Mill Rats survived a 15-14 win in 10 innings over Normal, Johnstown pitching overcame early hiccups before locking down Normal’s bats.
Tyler Suttner struck out four and walked four while allowing all three Normal runs on three hits.
Bennett Johnson, one of seven pitchers that Johnstown used Thursday, logged two spotless innings with three punchouts.
Suttner going five innings, even in a truncated game, was a welcome sight after Johnstown sent out six relievers the night before.
“He had that rough second inning, and he settled in nicely (after that),” Smith said. “We used a bunch of arms, so Suttner comes in, settles in, gets through five and I couldn’t be happier for what he did.”
Newman’s double to left-center field opened the scoring with Marsh wheeling in from first, just ahead of a relay throw to home.
A bases-loaded walk to Jake Greer got Normal on the board as Nolan McCrossin, who also drew a base on balls in the second, came home. A wild pitch with Parker Heistand at the plate, allowed Charlie Vercruysse to score, pushing the CornBelters to a 2-1 lead. Vercruysse singled in Jackson Stanek in the third to make it 3-1.
A double-steal attempt went for naught in the fifth as Stanek broke for second with Ben Voegele on third. Suttner’s pickoff try to get Stanek didn’t beat the runner’s jump, but Newman fired a quick throw to the plate to cut down Voegele.
Where Newman helped to prevent a run in the top of the fifth, he was key in Johnstown scoring in the bottom of the frame when his double off the screen in left plated Lafferty, giving Johnstown a 4-3 lead. With the Mill Rats ahead 6-3, Rey’s run-scoring double in the seventh ignited a game-ending rally that was highlighted by the Mill Rats scoring two runs on Hudson Hartgrove’s safety squeeze bunt as Throneberry scored ahead of Rey, who came in on a bad throw to first. Hartgrove later scored on a wild pitch two batters before Lafferty’s grounder to third plated Nolan Green.
Marsh’s double made it 12-3 with two outs in the seventh.
A wild pitch with the bases loaded dropped the curtain on the game as Marsh dashed home.
Shawn Curtis is a reporter for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5085. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnCurtis430.