Submitted photo and press release:
MORGANTOWN, W. Va. -- Nic Ready has been called the best Major League Baseball prospect on the Batavia Muckdogs roster this season. He has been called a five-tool player.
Friday night, he was called Mr. Clutch.
In the eighth inning, the Muckdogs were tied, 1-1 with West Virginia and Ready was up with two strikes and two outs and the bases loaded. He delivered a bases-clearing double down the left field line for the 4-1 lead which would hold up for the win.
Batavia (40-33) is ahead of West Virginia (38-34) by 1.5 games as Batavia has three games left with Auburn and West Virginia has four with Mahoning Valley.
West Virginia plays a doubleheader tonight. If they lose both and Batavia wins at home (first pitch 7:05 p.m. at Dwyer) on Fan Appreciation Night, the Muckdogs make the New York-Penn League Playoffs as Pinckney Division champions.
Ready, a 23rd-round draft pick of the Miami Marlins out of the Air Force Academy, is still active in the armed forces and very active with the Muckdogs, as he went 3-for-4 to increase his average to .267 and the three RBIs. The double was his 29th of the season and belted his second triple of the year. Ready has nine home runs including an inside-the-park HR.
Batavia catcher Michael Hernandez blasted his third home run of the year for the only other Batavia hit. J.D. Orr, Troy Johnston and Andrew Turner scored on Ready's double. Sean Reynolds stole his fourth base of the season.
Pitching was the story of the game for both teams.
Andrew Miller threw a no-hitter for four innings. The lefty was a 40th-round draft pick out of Kentucky by the Marlins and struck out three with no runs.
Eli Villalobos went 2.1 innings of one-hit ball with two strikeouts then Brock Love picked up his first win to improve to 1-0 as he there 2.2 innings of perfect baseball, striking out three. Love, a 2019 34th round draft pick out of Alabama now has a 2.45 ERA and earned his first save of the season this past week.
Batavia is home tonight and home Sunday at 5:05 p.m. before ending the season at Auburn on Monday.
Tonight is Fan Appreciation Night and fireworks. The Batavia High School 2019 Section V championship team will be honored as well.
Tickets are available at muckdogs.com or stop by the Dwyer Stadium Ticket office between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the week. The number is 585-483-3647.
Photo: Andrew Miller, Batavia's lefty ace, threw a no-hitter in his four innings on the mound Friday night in West Virginia. Batavia won, 4-1 thanks to a Nic Ready triple to inch closer to the playoffs.
