Posts Tagged ‘Jason Smit’

Photo Courtesy of Nick Mays

 

On a chilly Fall evening, two 19-year old pitching prospects took control of their respective team’s destinies. For Mahoning Valley, Clayton Cook, the Indians 9th round draft pick of 2008 took to the hill. Staten Island sent Jose Ramirez, a 2007 free agent from the Dominican Republic.  With everything at stake, neither of the youngsters factored into the decision.  Relief pitching was the difference as Staten Island overcame a 2-run deficit to defeat Mahoning Valley 5-2 in front of 1933 fans at Eastwood Field.

The Scrappers drew first blood when Ben Carlson parlayed an infield single into a run. Carlson moved to second on a passed ball and would come around to score when Rafael Vera smashed a triple into right center. Chun Chen, last night’s hero, doubled to knock home Vera and give the Scrappers a 2-0 lead.

In the top of the fifth inning, Scrapper-killer Neil Medchill doubled off of the wall in right center. Zoilo Almonte singled to right knocking Medchill home with no one out. With Almonte at third and one out, Cook battled back to get out of the inning only giving up a single run where the score stood at 2-1 in favor of Mahoning Valley.

In the Yankees half of the seventh inning, Almonte singled off of Vidal Nuno. The next batter, Kyle Higashioka, doubled into the left field corner scoring Almonte and tying the contest at two. That would be it for Nuno who was relieved by Austin Adams with nobody out and Higashioka on second base. Adams rose to the challenge and got the required three outs to keep the game tied at two.

In the eighth, the Yankees struck big.   Jimmy Paredes led off with a single and Mack DeAngelo walked. Luke Merton flew out to center and Paredes tagged and advanced to third. Neil Medchill hit a high chopper toward second that Adams cut off and tried to make a play at home, which failed.  With runners on first and second, Almonte delivered a dagger – a 2 RBI double off of new pitcher Tyler Sturdevant putting Staten Island up 5-2.

Ben Watkins, the winning pitcher, was terrific in relief for the Yankees. He entered the game to start the fourth inning and only gave up one hit over the next five innings. Graham Stoneburner relieved Watkins to pitch the ninth inning for the Yankees and earn the save.  When the final out was recorded, the Yankee dugout emptied noisily as the team celebrated on the Scrappers pitchers mound.   

For Staten Island, it is their sixth NYPL Championship. 

Travis Fryman had nothing but good things to say about his Scrappers club after the game.  “You want these guys to go home on a positive note.  It is hard to lose big games, you can’t take away what they accomplished as a club this year.  It’s over, and we will prepare for next year, it’s all you can do.”

I asked Fryman about a return for next season to which he responded, “I plan on coming back here, absolutely.”

So the 2009 chapter of the New York – Penn League comes to a close.  Congratulations to all of the players in the league, not just Mahoning Valley, for making it a memorable year full of promise.  It was nice to meet so many young men who will serve as the reinforcements to Major League Baseball someday.

Photo -Courtesy of Nick Mays

The Scrappers Marty Popham and the Yankees Sean Black pitched like anything but short season Single-A prospects. Through four complete innings, the two starting pitchers combined for a total of 13 strikeouts.  In the end, it was a crack off the bat of Chun Chen in the bottom of the 11th inning that vaulted the Scrappers to knotting the series at one game apiece.

The irony of the Scrappers walk-off homer win is that Staten Island had hit 45 homers during the regular season and Mahoning Valley only had 11.

The Yankees got a lead in the top of the fifth inning. With two outs, Carmen Angelini singled. The next batter for the Yankees, DH Jimmy Paredes doubled driving in Angelini. DeAngelo Mack continued the two-out hitfest with a single up the middle which scored Paredes. After four-and-a-half innings the Yankees held a 2-0 lead.

Jason Smit doubled to start the bottom half of the fifth inning. He advanced to third on a wild pitch with nobody out. The next batter, Casey Frawley doubled deep off of the left-centerfield wall scoring Smit and cutting the Yankees lead to 2-1 and knocking Black out of the game.  Chun Chen laid down a sacrifice bunt off of new Yankee pitcher Griffin Bailey moving Frawley to third with one out. Argenis Martinez singled with two outs to plate Frawley and tie the game at two runs apiece.

With one out in the ninth inning, Jordan Henry singled and Martinez walked, but the Scrappers failed to capitalize on the opportunity.

In the bottom of the 11th inning of the 2000 NYPL finals, the Scrappers were playing Staten Island, and won that game on a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 11th inning.  Props to GM Dave Smith who walked into the pressbox during the tenth inning and laid claim to history repeating itself.  With one swing of Chen’s bat off of Staten Island pitcher Ronny Marte,  Smitty looked like a genius.  Chen was due to have a big hit sooner or later, he is just too good of a hitter.  “That was my biggest hit of my career”, said Chun through his interpreter (Jason Lynn), “I got a fastball, put a good swing on it, and the ball carried out”.

Jason Smit, Ben Carlson, Chen, and Martinez all had two hits each for the Scrappers.

Cory Burns was awesome in 3 1/3 innings of relief in garnering the win.  Burns had it going striking out 4 Yankees in his appearance and is credited with the win.  Antoine Hubbard and Matt Packer also pitched scoreless relief in keeping the loud Yankee bats quiet.

After the game, Travis Fryman tried to offer explanations on the mystique of this 2009 Scrappers team.  “ Our strength all year has been our pitching depth and ability to just win games.  I can’t explain that, I have been scratching my head all year trying to figure out how we ended up with the best record in the league.  I don’t think we had the most talented club in the league by any means, but I think tonight was a great example of what kind of ballclub we have, just finding ways to win”.

The Scrappers and Yankees hook it up Wednesday night, winner-takes-it-all.  Clayton Cook will start for the Scrappers.  “Cookie and some good guys in the bullpen, I like our chances”, said Fryman about the deciding contest.  First pitch is at 7:05 PM at Eastwood Field.  Marc Means will be on AM-1390 calling the game for those unable to attend.

$2 made from every ticket sold is being donated to the Luke Holko Fund.

Playoff Smit-O-Meter:  2-4, 2B (1), Run

Jason Kipnis (pictured) is proving why being drafted in the second round of the 2009 MLB Draft was a wise choice for the Cleveland Indians.  Kipnis gave Mahoning Valley some breathing room with a towering two-run homer in the third inning and the pitching staff was up to the task as the Scrappers advanced to the New York/ Penn League Finals with a 3-1 victory over a good Brooklyn Cyclones team.

The Scrappers got on the board in the bottom of the second inning.  Casey Frawley walked on four pitches.  With a one-ball, no-strike count, the Scrappers executed a perfect hit-and-run as Jesus Brito singled and Frawley advanced to third.  Ben Carlson then singled up the middle to plate Frawley and give the Scrappers a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning, Argenis Martinez singled with one out.  Kipnis then unloaded to deep right center with his first homer at Eastwood Field to put Mahoning Valley up 3-0.

The Cyclones scored a run in the seventh inning on a John Servidio RBI-double to cut the Scrapper lead to 3-1.  After walking the the bases full, Austin Adams was bailed out of a jam when Jordan Henry made a beautiful running catch in centerfield to end the inning.

Vidal Nuno was a workhorse for the Scrappers.  Marty Popham was scheduled to start but was out with the flu.  Nuno stepped up and came through making the absolute most of an important start.  In his five innings pitched, Nuno gave up just a walk and a hit while striking out five Cyclones.  Austin Adams threw the next two innings.  Tyler Sturdevant pitched a scoreless inning.  Guido Fonseca pitched a perfect ninth to record the save. 

Cyclones Manager Pedro Lopez and 2B Jordany Valdespin were ejected in the top of the second inning for arguing with the home plate umpire Jose Rivera.

Kipnis commented on his home run.  “Felt great, was my first one here.  I was actually glad to finally hit one at home.  I’m just happy I could score some runs for this pitching staff.”  Kipnis was also very complimentary of center fielder Jordan Henry and the Scrapper defense.  “The kid [Henry] is a tremendous cenerfielder.  And what’s new?  Henry made another great play tonight.  The infield also did a good job knocking balls down.  With good pitching comes good defense, everyone is on their toes and ready to play behind them.”

Travis Fryman was very pleased with the efforts of Nuno and the defense.   “He’s [Nuno] been lights-out.  He wasn’t supposed to be in the rotation for the postseason.  Marty Popham got sick and we had to change the rotation up, so Vidal, again, has stepped in and pitched extremely well.  Obviously there is more than one way to contribute to a win and we saw that tonight with two plays in my opinion.  Argenis Martinez made an over-the-shoulder catch early which really changed the momentum.  The play Jordan made, that’s way too much drama for me, I don’t like drama in a baseball game.  Jordan is struggling at the plate but is playing lights-out in centerfield.”

It was also a night where the Scrappers raised money for Luke Holko.  Before the game, a collection from the players and coaches raised $1700.  There were firemen in full uniform passing a boot in honor of Chad Holko, (Luke’s father is a fireman) to aid the cause.  There were also several people selling Daffin’s chocolate bars for $1.

The attendance was listed at slightly over 1200, but it felt different tonight.  The people who showed up tonight were baseball fans.  I have been there on Buck Night when 5,000 people go nuts over the throwing of soap and pizza boxes, but barely make a peep when the Scrappers have the bases loaded and nobody out in a tie game.  Hats off to the attendees of this game for clapping and screaming for the Scrappers at the right times.

Tonight also marked the return of a player I figured to be shut down for the year.  Jason Smit was a surprise starter in right field prompting me to bring back something that I enjoyed doing, the Smit-O-Meter, playoff style.

Playoff Smit-O-Meter:  1-3, batting .333

***Lowell defeated Staten Island 3-2 to even their series at one win each.  The Scrappers will play the winner of this series to be decided on Thursday.

 

Kyle Smith is enjoying his rookie season.  Drafted 14th by the Cleveland Indians in the 2009 MLB Draft, Smith has already been selected to the NYPL All-Star team.  As of this writing, he is sidelined with a shoulder injury but said he will be re-evaluated early next week and may be able to return to the field by seasons end.  The very best and worst a player could ask for in his first season, being named an all-star and being hurt for a few weeks.

 I caught up with Kyle to discuss the past, future, and present.  He provided some great answers to my questions.

Paneech: What is it like having a birthday on December 25?

Smith: It’s pretty cool.  Everyone always asks as a kid if you get screwed on presents, “Did you get one, did you get two?”, I was fortunate because I didn’t get the short end of the stick, I usually got two presents from everyone.  So it’s kind of a cool feeling to share my birthday with that holiday.

Paneech: Living and growing up in California, tell me the differences you have noticed between home and Youngstown, Ohio.

Smith: It’s really green here [Youngstown] is the first thing I noticed, like all of the trees you see when you are driving.  In California, where I live,  there are more buildings and skyscrapers, and alot more people.  There’s a little bit of a homey feeling here.  Everything is a little bit slower and relaxed.  When I was younger, I went to the beach alot.  My uncle played volleyball on the APV tour so we used to go watch him alot.  My school was actually five minutes from the beach, so I would go there quite a bit growing up.

Paneech: Explain your injury and how it happened.

Smith: It’s a seperated shoulder, I seperated my AC joint.  I got a ground ball, it took a funny hop, I went down to pick it up and I should have just ate it and not thrown it, but I threw and tripped and jammed it [shoulder], all my body weight landed on it.

Paneech: Do you watch alot of baseball and who do you root for?

Smith: Yeah, I do, in fact, I watch a ton of baseball.  I’m a huge Dodgers fan.  My favorite player is Andre Ethier.

Paneech: What do you do with the limited spare time that you have?

Smith: Basically, just try to relax and get off of my feet.  I like to go and hang out by the pool a couple of times a week.  I like to watch movies, I watch a ton of movies.  I’ll go see a movie or watch a movie at home.  My favorite movie of all-times is Fight Club.

Paneech: Have you gotten used to staying with a host family yet?

Smith: Yeah, when I was 12, I played in the Cal Ripken World Series and that was my first host family experience.  This is actually my third experience with a host family.  It’s an uneasy feeling everytime because you are unsure of what you will get, but I have been really fortunate with all of the host families I have had, they have all been outstanding.

Paneech: Who have you gotten to be good friends with on the team?

Smith: Pretty much everybody.  We’re all pretty close.  Lately I have been pretty close with Jason Smit because we are both hurt, but also with Kyle Bellows and Jason Kipnis.

Paneech: Explain the experience of learning under Travis Fryman.

Smith: You can’t ask for a better first-year coach, I have really been spoiled.  He’s a former middle infielder who moved over to third base and I have benefited from him.  He has been in our situation before, so he knows what we are going through as first year players.

Paneech: Why have you selected the number 2?

Smith: My other number was retired.  Number 3 was retired and Timmy [Palincsar] took number 7 and I wanted to keep a single digit, so I selected number 2 because my mom wore that number.

Paneech: How long until we see Kyle Smith back on the field?

Smith: I’m going to take some kind of a treatment that is supposed to help close off my AC joint and test it Saturday.  If that goes well, I should be on the field in the next couple of weeks.

Paneech: Have you taken a liking to any particular restaurants in the area?

Smith:  I like Applebee’s alot.  Although the other day I had my first trip ever to a Steak And Shake and really liked it, we don’t have Steak And Shake back home in California, and it was really good.

One Word Answers

Favorite College Football Team:  USC Trojans 

Favorite Band:  Journey

After A Loss I Feel…  Angry

After A Big Win I Feel… Glorified

Favorite Boxer:  Roy Jones

Best Uniforms In Any Sport: Home Dodgers uniforms 

WWE or TNA?  Ultimate Warrior

Favorite Pitch To Hit: Fastball

Favorite Animal:  Dog

Smith came off as comfortable with his situation.  I sensed a minor bit of sadness due to his injury, but with the year he was having, who wouldn’t be sad.  It was ironic that Kyle declared USC to be his favorite college football team on the Scrappers college football night promotion.  90% of the people wearing a college football shirt were advertising Ohio State.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers offense showed its potency against Batavia.  The Scrappers scored a season-high eight runs in the third inning and never looked back in defeating the Muckdogs.

Batavia struck first on a three-run blast from Kyle Conley.  They added another run in the second inning to push the lead to 4-0.  At this point in the game things may have seemed dismal with Jason Smit, Kyle Smith, and Kyle Bellows holding clipboards and nursing injuries.

The Scrappers batted around in the third inning.  Jordan Henry (pictured above) singled and stole second base.  Casey Frawley then walked and Jason Kipnis reached on an error to load the bases.  Greg Folgia was hit by a pitch scoring Henry.  Jesus Brito then walked to score Frawley.  Chun Chen struck out but the ball got to the backstop and Kipnis alertly scored from third.  Juan Aponte doubled to score Folgia and Brito and give the Scrappers a 5-4 lead.  Tim Palincsar doubled home two more and scored when Henry had his second hit of the inning, an RBI-double pushing the Scrapper lead to 8-4. 

In the fourth, Rafael Vera got in on the action as he doubled home Folgia and Brito, who both reached base via the free pass, extending the lead to 10-4.

The Muckdogs tried to fight back putting a couple of runs up in the fifth inning and cutting the Scrapper lead to 10-6.

Henry collected his fourth hit of the night, an RBI-single plating Vera who doubled, to pretty much seal the victory for Mahoning Valley.

Henry has been superb, as a leadoff man and as a center fielder, all season long for the Scrappers.  Henry said it felt good to put the eight runs up in the third inning, “It was great, just about everyone scored that inning.  It was good to be that consistent through the lineup.  It’s all part of the game, sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t”.

Manager Travis Fryman was pleased with the situational hitting his team provided, especially in the third inning.  “Our situational hitting has been better.  It’s still not on the level where I think it needs to be, but it has been better.  We did this the other day in Auburn where we had five hits with two outs, it is getting better”.

With the win, Mahoning Valley trimmed their magic number to clinch the division to six.  The magic number decreases by one with each Scrapper victory or second-place Williamsport Crosscutter loss.

The Scrappers finish the series with Batavia on Thursday, Buck Night.  On Friday, Mahoning Valley embarks on their final roadtrip of the season with stops in Jamestown and Williamsport.  It should be noted that Thursday, Friday, and Saturday games will not be broadcast on AM-1390, but can still be picked up on the internet transmission.  Marc Means, as always, will still be calling the games online.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers played an uncharacteristic game against the Lowell Spinners on Friday night.  The Scrappers gave up four unearned runs and an error contributed to another run later in the game.  Lowell took a 6-3 lead to the ninth and barely held off the obviously frustrated Scrapper team to win the game 6-5 in front of 4, 244 fans on fireworks night.

In the first, Jordan Henry singled and moved to second base when Kyle Smith walked.  After Henry stole his franchise record-tying 15th base of the season, Kyle Bellows drilled a single through the right side which was misplayed by the Spinners RF Alex Hassan, allowing Smith to also score putting the Scrappers up 2-0.

Chris McGuiness cut the lead in half when he homered to RF in the second.  In the third, McGuiness struck again with a two-run double.  During the nightmarish third inning, the Spinners scored four unearned runs to take a 5-2 lead.

Greg Folgia smacked a solo homer in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3.

In the ninth inning, trailing 6-3,  Jesus Brito and Rafael Vera doubled to cut the lead to 6-5 with one out and runners on second and third.  Unfortunately, the home team was unable to take advantage of a good situation, a problem Manager Travis Fryman has continually addressed as an achiles heel of this years team. 

Preston Guilmet (pictured above, photo courtesy of Nick Mays) dropped to 5-3 on the season.  Guilmet lasted just three innings giving up five runs on four hits.  Only one of the runs, however was earned.  New acquisition Matt Packer pitched three perfect innings of relief and Tyler Sturdevant closed out the game for the Scrappers.  Fryman talked about Guilmet and the start, “He [Guilmet] has been pitching really well for us, he obviously wasn’t that sharp tonight, but you are allowed a bad outing every now and then.”

Fryman also said he was pleased that the team was able to rally in the ninth and put themselves in a position to win despite falling a bit short.

* Kyle Smith left the game in the third inning when he injured himself fielding a ground ball, his status for Saturday is unknown.

* Jason Smit told me after the game that an MRI shows a torn labrum which will end his season.  Smit has still been working on drills that he can participate in, but his live AB’s for the Scrappers are likely finished this season.

* I was happy to see Rafael Vera come through in the ninth inning.  Vera has played so many positions all season and is settling in as the Scrappers go-to utility guy.  “I prepare myself everyday before the game at each position.  If I know I am playing one, I will practice there all day.  If not, I’ll take some time working in the outfield.  I’m getting pretty comfortable playing just about anywhere.  I’m more comfortable in the infield, the outfield is still kind of new to me”, said Vera after the game.

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers returned to Niles to open a four-game homestand.  The Scrappers got a great start from Vidal Nuno and held off Batavia to take a 2-1 verdict and remain in first place in the New York Penn League for the 28th day in a row.

Ben Carlson (pictured) hit a bomb over everything and into the right field parking lot to give the Scrappers a 1-0 lead.  Jason Smit then walked and stole second.  Smit scored the Scrappers second run when Jordan Henry hit into an apparent double play, but, Batavia shortstop Ryan Jackson floated his throw over the head of the first baseman allowing Smit to score from second.

Cory Burns had a shaky ninth giving up a run on a bases loaded double play.  Burns was able to escape without further harm to preserve the victory for Nuno and garner a save.

“We weren’t expecting to get that many inning out of him [Nuno] tonight.  We put him in the rotation, he has a spot there now.  We have to work on building his pitch count”, said Scrappers Manager Travis Fryman.

Ben Carlson talked about his long home run after the game, “I had two strikes on me and was actually looking to go the other way.  He [Batavia starter Chris Corrogan] came inside for the first time all night and I just kind of reacted and hit it good enough to go out.”

The Scrappers continue the weekend homestand tonight at Eastwood Field.

Smit-O-Meter:  1-2, BB, SB (7), R, Currently Batting .286

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers improved to 2-1 on their current road venture with a 2-0 victory over the Auburn Doubledays.  The Scrappers upped their 2009 record against the Doubledays to 4-0. 

The pitching on the road trip has been outstanding to this point.  Preston Guilmet went six strong innings and recorded five strikeouts while allowing just four Doubleday hits.  Guido Fonseca, Nick Kirk, and Tyler Sturdevant worked an inning each.  Sturdevant struck out the side in the ninth inning to earn his first save of the season.

The Scrappers posted both of their runs in the second inning.  Ben Carlson (pictured) singled to left and scored on Jason Smit’s 2-run homer to left.

The Scrappers wrap up the series and the road trip tonight at 7:05 and can be heard on AM-1390 with Marc Means calling the game.  The Scrappers return home to open a four-game homestand against Batavia and Auburn starting with Fireworks Friday.

Smit-O-Meter:  1-4, HR (1), 2 RBI (22), Currently Hitting .284

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers returned home from a five game road trip to post a 4-0 victory over the Williamsport Crosscutters.  The first game of the short two-game homestand against Williamsport was highlighted by the great pitching of Scrapper starter Marty Popham.

Popham pitched five solid innings, racking up nine strikeouts and yielding only three hits, to lead the great pitching performance displayed at Eastwood Field.

The Scrappers got on the board in the third inning on an RBI-single from Kyle Smith and an RBI-double from Jason Smit for a 2-0 Scrappers lead. 

In the fifth inning, Chun Chen led off the inning with a double and would score on a Kyle Bellows RBI-double.  Ben Carlson’s single plated Bellows to close the scoring with the Scrappers in command 4-0.

Austin Adams and Cory Burns pitched the final four innings to preserve the shutout for Popham’s third victory of the 2009 season.    The Scrapper trio of pitchers ended the game with 13 strikeouts.

I have a nice profile piece on Scrapper starter Marty Popham to post, but I have to get a good picture of him to go with the piece.  That article will be up real soon.

Smit-O-Meter:  1-4, Double (7), RBI (18), Currently hitting .273 

There was no shortage of power, walks, errors, or hits.  The fireworks were supposed to start after the game, but there were plenty of explosions before the game ended.  The Mahoning Valley Scrappers and Oneonta Tigers played a long contest which started fifteen minutes late due to rain.  In the end, the Scrappers came away with a 10-8 victory.

Tigers starting pitcher Jeff Gerbe only lasted two-thirds of an inning as the Scrappers loaded the bases on a walk and two hit batters.  A Kyle Bellows groundout to short drove home Jordan Henry.  A Greg Folgia groundout plated Kyle Smith.  Ben Carlson then drilled one toward the pitcher that deflected into left field driving in Bellows and giving the Scrappers the early 3-0 lead.

Oneonta scored three runs in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game at 3 apiece.  In the bottom of the fifth,  Juan Aponte homered to reclaim the Scrapper lead at 4-3.  Henry later singled, stole second, and scored on a Smith double pushing the lead to 5-3 in favor of Mahoning Valley.  Bellows then homered to left to push the lead to 7-3.  Rafael Vera got in on the action and drove home Folgia making it 8-3.

The Tigers tacked on a couple of runs in the sixth cutting the Scrapper lead to 8-5.  Guido Fonseca came in to pitch with the bases loaded with just one out and got out of trouble with an inning-ending double play minimizing the Tigers potential threat.

Oneonta clawed back into the game tying the score at 8 runs each on a two-run double from John Murrian.

The Scrappers took a 9-8 lead in the bottom of the eighth when Henry scored again on an error from the Tigers shortstop, Jim Gulliver.  Jason Smit stole second and scored on another Gulliver error to close the scoring at 10-8.

Bellows spoke about the Scrappers being a team that got two home runs in the game, but only have eight for the entire season.  ” It’s great to hit home runs, but we’re pretty much a small ball team.  It just feels good to win.”

Travis Fryman was mostly pleased with his team.  “We need to continue working on consistency.  It was nice to put the losing streak behind us against a hot team.  Oneonta and Staten Island are probably the two hottest teams in the league, so it felt good to get the win tonight.  I like winning the first game of the series.”

Smit-O-Meter:  0-4, Run Scored, SB (5), HBP, Currently Hitting .299