NEW YORK-PENN LEAGUE

Spikes continue torrid stretch

Guy Cipriano

WILLIAMSPORT — A squirrel roamed Bowman Field's protective netting during Sunday's seventh inning.

View larger

Nothing seemed squirrelly about what occurred before and after the creature traveled to safer spots.

The State College Spikes belted a season-high 16 hits to continue a torrid offensive stretch with an 11-3 victory over the Williamsport Crosscutters before 1,768 fans and one furry intruder.

The daring squirrel demonstrated poor timing as he missed the Spikes’ best offensive work.

The Spikes (9-8), who have won four straight for the first time since a similar stretch from Sept. 4-7, 2007, wasted no time reaching Williamspor t starter Jonathan Pettibone, an 18-year-old right-hander with a promising future.

Leadoff hitter Brock Holt singled to left field on Pettibone’s eighth pitch. No. 2 hitter Ty Summerlin singled to center field on the game’s 14th pitch. No. 3 hitter Evan Chambers singled to center field on the game’s 16th pitch to score Holt and Summerlin.

The Spikes recorded three runs during the inning. They also forced Pettibone, who allowed one earned run in his first three New York- Penn League starts, to throw 36 pitches.

“Any time you can get into hitter’s counts is huge because more than likely he’s going to throw a fastball,” Holt said. “We got to see pitches and let the other guys see more pitches, and we got hits, which helps more.”

The inning contrasted what the Spikes experienced on June 20, when Pettibone allowed two hits in five scoreless innings. The Spikes forced Pettibone to throw 29 pitches during his first NY-PL inning, but they failed to score.

This time, the Spikes used a different lineup — Justin Byler, Miguel Mendez and Summerlin were the only players to appear in the previous game — to score six runs in three innings against a player the Philadelphia Phillies selected in the third-round of last year’s draft and signed for $500,000.

“We’re going out there attacking fastballs,” said Byler, whose first-inning single to center field scored Chambers. “It helps seeing him earlier in the season. We have charts on him and what he throws and where he throws. We had a much better plan on how to face him.”

The Spikes are seemingly hitting every pitcher they face these days.

The team’s batting average has increased from .209 to .241 during the winning streak. The Spikes have recorded 49 hits and outscored opponents 31-13 in the four games.

“Right now, it’s really clicking,” Holt said. “Everybody is going up with a game plan.”

First baseman and cleanup hitter Aaron Baker was the only Spike who didn’t record a hit Sunday. Baker, though, walked and scored in the third against Pettibone.

Holt, Summerlin and Chambers went a combined 7-for-19 with four RBIs. Holt and left fielder Edward both Garcia recorded three hits. Summerlin, Chambers, Byler and Andy Vasquez recorded two hits each.

“I as well as (hitting coach Brandon Moore) felt like it was going to take us 20 to 25 games for our hitters to do what they are capable of doing for a lot of different reasons,” manager Gary Robinson said. “We are getting the bats to that point. We’re 17 games in. We’re just starting to square up fastballs. Everybody is and that’s good. That’s what you have to do.”

Once again, the Spikes pounced on an opponent’s gaffes as they scored five unearned runs when Williamsport third baseman Anthony Hewitt, a 2008 first-round pick, committed three errors in the seventh. Hewitt bobbled a ball Byler sharply hit to begin the inning. Kyle Morgan then reached when Hewitt’s one-hop throw bounced off first baseman Francisco Murillo’s glove.

Garcia and Vasquez followed the errors with RBI singles off Luke Wertz. The duo scored when a running throw by Hewitt on a ball Mendez hit missed Murillo and entered the expansive right-field foul territory. Mendez scored the inning’s final run on Sum-merlin’s sacrifice fly to center field.

“You can’t rest in this game,” Summerlin said. “Any inning, the game can change just like that. We have to keep adding on runs.”

The Crosscutters scored three runs despite recording 12 hits, including eight in four innings off starter Jason Erickson. The start was the second of Erickson’s career and he tossed carefully-placed pitches with runners on base.

Jiwan James bounced into a double play to end the second, Erickson struck out Adam Buschini to finish the third and the fourth concluded with James grounding out. A two-out error by Summerlin, who played second base, led to the Crosscutters (9-8) scoring two unearned runs off Erickson in the first.

“He’s a very tough kid,” Robinson said of Erickson. “He’s a real competitor.”

Williamsport scored its final run when James cracked Mike Williams’ first pitch of the seventh over the left-field wall. Three batters later, Williams tossed two pitches to Sebastian Valle as the squirrel spontaneously entertained fans.

Phillip Irwin pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three in his second professional outing. Brandon Holden pitched a scoreless ninth.

Notes:Vasquez returned to the lineup after missing three straight games because of shin splints. Vasquez, who played 11 of his first 12 games, started at third base and batted eighth. Holt remained at shortstop and Summerlin stayed at second base for the fourth straight game. …Morgan started in right field for the first time this season. Morgan had not appeared in the outfield since moving to first base during spring training. …The teams return to Bowman Field to conclude their series at 7:05 p.m. tonight.