Mill Rats Earn 6-2 Road Win at Champion City

FROM JOHNSTOWN:

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Johnstown Mill Rats fended off a late-inning threat to help defeat the Champion City Kings 6-2 in Prospect League action on Friday night.

Mill Rats pitchers Josh Cottrill and Andrew Kribbs combined to hold Champion City scoreless for the first seven innings. Cottrill started the game, throwing four shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out two. After Kribbs cruised through three frames, the Kings loaded the bases and scored twice off of a hit by pitch and an RBI single in the eighth with one out.

JD Greeley came out of the bullpen and got out of the jam by recording the final two outs, and then closed the door in the ninth.

Johnstown tallied at least 10 hits as a team for the second consecutive game.

The Mill Rats also swiped five bases and are up to 11 steals through two contests. Mike Whiteherse, Matt Santarelli and Jake Casey each recorded two hits.

Joe Alcorn and Lukas Torres both doubled, with Torres also scoring two runs. Santarelli stole two bases.

The Mill Rats grabbed an early lead by scoring two runs in the top of the first, courtesy of an RBI single by Santarelli and a fielder's choice from Chase Cromer.

Johnstown then tallied runs in three consecutive innings, with Sam Mast tallying an RBI single in the fifth, Casey launching a two-run home run in the sixth and Alcorn

bringing in a run with a seventh inning base knock. Casey's round-tripper was the first for Johnstown on the season.

Johnstown (2-0) returns to Sargent's Stadium at the Point for its home opener on Saturday night against the Champion City Kings (0-2). First pitch is set for 7 p.m.

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FROM CHAMPION CITY (Lee W. Mowen)

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO – Drew Lang (Naples, FL; Tallahassee CC) made his debut and pitched five innings of strong baseball, but the Johnstown Mill Rats scored the game's first six runs en route to a 6-2 win on Friday Night against the Champion City Kings.

The Mill Rats got on the board first, with a pair of two-out RBI singles. Johnstown added one more run in the fifth, although went quietly after a leadoff double and RBI single. As the Kings went to the pen, Johnstown got three more runs in the game. Gabe Carter (Huntington, WV; Rio Grande) made his debut, throwing an inning and allowing a two-run home run. Noah Penney (Fort Murray, Alberta, Canada; Tiffin University) pitched two strong innings, getting the first two outs of the seventh and eighth inning quickly. Aaron Miller (Canton, OH; Notre Dame College) threw a scoreless, hitless ninth inning, striking out three batters.

Champion City's lone runs came in their share of the eighth, when Patrick Fultz (Springfield, OH; Springfield Shawnee High School) singled to left field. Nick Dolan (Pittsburgh, PA; Ohio University) walked with one out, followed with another walk to Edrick Padilla (Salinas, Puerto Rico; Ohio Wesleyan.) Ben Stuart (Mason, OH; Evansville) was hit with a pitch on a full count to bring in the first run. The second score was Jonah Sutton's (Collierville, TN; Memphis) RBI single out to right. The Mill Rats shut the door after that point to make it a 6-2 final. 

The Kings will visit Johnstown for the next two games before returning home to Carleton Davidson Stadium on Monday, June 6th against the Johnstown Mill Rats on Teachers' Appreciation Night. For tickets, event information, PLTV links, and more, please visit championcitykings.com!