Outfielder frustrates Spikes

From CDT staff reports

BURLINGTON, Vt. — One of the New York-Penn League's youngest outfielders ensured the road-weary State College Spikes opened a three-game series at Vermont with a loss.

Destin Hood belted a two-run homer off Kyle McPherson in the sixth and recorded a game-winning sacrifice fly in the eighth to lead the Lake Monsters past the Spikes 5-3 Friday at Centennial Field.

The 19-year-old left fielder also helped Vermont by making a diving catch on a ball Aaron Baker hit with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. Hood, a 2008 second-round draft pick, derailed the Spikes on the same day they completed a 499-mile bus trip from State College to Burlington.

Hood’s catch allowed a former Spike to escape a precarious situation. Gary Amato, a former Penn State pitcher who played for the Spikes from 2007-08, threw the pitch Baker hit into left field. Amato, who was signed by the Washington Nationals after being released by the Pittsburgh Pirates, replaced starter Matt Swynenberg and pitched 21/ 3 hitless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.27.

Amato, 23, has pitched 26 innings with Vermont after beginning the year at full-season West Virginia, where he allowed 11 hits and three runs in 91/ 3 innings.

The Spikes (28-27) held a 3-1 lead after the Lake Monsters (25-29) committed three fielding errors in the sixth.

Hood’s homer tied the game and Vermont took the lead after Teddy Fallon walked two hitters to begin the eighth. J.P. Ramirez then singled to load the bases.

McPherson allowed five hits and walked two in six innings. Hood’s homer was the fifth surrendered by McPherson this season. McPherson has allowed 16 homers since joining the Spikes in 2007.

Pat Irvine was responsible for most of State College’s offense. Irvine recorded three of the team’s five hits and belted a solo homer off Swynenberg during the fifth. Irvine, who went 4 for 5 with four RBIs during Thursday’s doubleheader against Oneonta, also doubled. Brock Holt and Justin Byler recorded the other two hits.

Reliever Zach Foster, a New York-Penn League All-Star selection, lowered his ERA to 1.04 by pitching a scoreless seventh. McPherson, Foster and Fallon held Vermont to six hits.

Notes: Pitcher Jeff Inman, a 12th-round draft choice, has joined the Spikes after agreeing to terms with the Pirates. Inman, who hasn’t been added to the active roster, went 2-6 with a 6.11 ERA as a junior at Stanford, but he was considered the ninth best prospect in last year’s Cape Cod League. The Pirates have agreed to terms with 23 picks, including their top 14. The deadline for signing 2009 picks is Tuesday.