Black Bears Fall in Season Finale

Mahoning Valley defeats West Virginia, 17-1

By Darren Zaslau

September 5, 2016

GRANVILLE, W.Va. - Black Bears' RF Matt Diorio went 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk as West Virginia fell to Mahoning Valley, 17-1 on Monday afternoon from Monongalia County Ballpark in the final game of their 2016 season. West Virginia starter RHP Jacob Taylor took the loss allowing five earned runs on six hits over 1.2 innings.

Mahoning Valley took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI groundout from SS Miguel Eladio. In the second inning, the Scrappers would pull away as RBI singles from C Jack Goihl, CF Gabriel Mejia, LF Todd Isaacs and Eladio put Mahoning Valley ahead, 5-0.

After West Virginia reliever RHP Billy Roth tossed a scoreless third inning, the Scrappers would tally seven runs in the fourth inning. Three-run home runs from Goihl and Isaacs along with a solo homer off the bat of Eladio gave Mahoning Valley a 12-0 lead.

In the seventh, the Scrapers added another run to grab a 13-0 advantage on 3B Jonathan Laureano's solo home run over the left field wall. But, the Black Bears would respond in the bottom of the frame. Diorio led off the inning with a single and eventually came around to score on an RBI groundout from LF Ty Moore, cutting West Virginia's deficit to 13-1.

Just one inning later, the Scrappers would answer. 2B Jorma Radriguez hit an RBI groundout, DH Simeon Lucas' RBI ground-rule double and Laureano's two RBI single put Mahoning Valley ahead, 17-1.

Black Bears' reliever RHP Matt Anderson was excellent out of the bullpen tossing 2.1 scoreless innings while reliever RHP Dylan Prohoroff shut down the Scrappers in the ninth. For the Scrappers, Isaacs went 4-for-5 with a run scored and four RBI as starter LHP Tanner Tully improved to 4-1, hurling five scoreless innings on two hits with four strikeouts.

The Black Bears end the 2016 season with an overall record of 38-38. West Virginia won six of their final seven games.

Black Bears Finish Strong in 2016

After the New York-Penn League All-Star Game on August 16, the Black Bears ended the 2016 season going 13-7.