After being rained out on Wednesday night, the Batavia Muckdogs and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers met in two, seven-inning games on Thursday.
Cody Poteet, a fourth-round pick out of UCLA, started for the Muckdogs in game one.
Poteet opened strong by retiring the side in the first inning on just nine pitches. While Poteet looked confident, his defense let him down in the second.
Nathan Winfrey led off the inning with a single and would quickly move to second on a failed pickoff attempt to first.
Winfrey scooted to third on a ground out to second by Scrappers' third baseman Austin Fisher.
With two outs, Winfrey scored after the Muckdogs' third baseman threw a David Armendariz ground ball into the dirt trying to throw him out at first.
Poteet regrouped and fanned the next batter to end the inning.
The Muckdogs were able to score three runs in the fourth after some great situational baseball.
Eric Fisher started off the inning by smashing the first pitch he saw right back up the middle. Ryan Cranmer drew a walk, setting up first and second with no outs.
Brandon Rawe executed a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving Fisher to third and Cranmer to second.
Ninth-place hitter and left field Cameron Newell connected on a fly ball deep enough to center to score Fisher from third making it 1-1.
Leadoff hitter Anfernee Seymour ripped a ball just inside first base to score Cranmer.
The lighting-quick shortstop scored from second when Giovanny Alfonzo singled, making it 3-1.
Nestor Bautista replaced Poteet in the fourth and scattered three hits through the final four innings of the game.
Batavia added another run in the fifth when Brad Haynal doubled and then moved to third on a passed ball. He then scored on another passed ball by the Scrappers.
With solid pitching and timely hitting, the Muckdogs avoided the worst start in club history since 1953 by winning the first game of the doubleheader with a final score of 4-1.
The teams headed to the clubhouse to get ready for the next game and all the Muckdogs offense must have stayed in the locker room.
Three Scrappers pitchers were able to hold the Muckdogs to only two hits the whole game.
Jose Zapata got the start for the Scrappers in the second game and allowed only one hit while striking out three over his three innings of work.
Dominic DeMasi took over in relief in the fourth and allowed a mere one hit over three innings of work.
Billy Strode notched the save in the seventh for the Scrappers, working around a two-out error to keep the shutout intact.
Mahoning Valley scored all they needed in the sixth inning.
Silento Saylas started the inning with an infield single and then stole second. He advanced to third on a Willi Castro sacrifice bunt.
Saylas scored on a Fisher double just three pitches later. Winfrey drew a walk and Li-Jen Chu singled home Fisher making it 2-0.
The Scrappers added another insurance run in the seventh making it 3-0.
The Muckdogs got a runner on base in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to string any hits together.
The loss dropped the Muckdogs to 2-11 while the Scrappers improve to 5-8.
Batavia currently sits in last place in the Pinckney Division and 10 games back of the first-place Williamsport Crosscutters.
The Muckdogs will finish up their short three-game home stand on Friday. The game is the annual Independence Day celebration and like all Friday night games, it will have fireworks following the conclusion of the game.
First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
