Black Bears edged 5-4 in season opener

GRANVILLE — If life had gone a different way for Braxton Ashcraft, the towering right-hander would have likely made his Monongalia County Ballpark debut this season as a freshman pitcher for Baylor. Instead it came Friday, in what was an up-and-down Opening Day for the West Virginia Black Bears.

Mahoning Valley centerfielder George Valera — an 18-year old playing in just his seventh career minor league game — had two doubles, drove in two runs and scored twice in the Scrappers 5-4 victory against the Black Bears in front of a near sell-out crowd of 2,541.

“Very excited about the effort and the perseverance our guys had tonight,” West Virginia manager Drew Saylor said. “I think that’s something that’s going to be consistent throughout the season. At least that’s what our expectations are.”

Ashcraft, considered the Pirates’ 11th-best prospect in their minor-league system, paired a tough first inning with four dominant ones in taking the loss.

“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted, but I think it was a step in the right direction,” said Ashcraft, who was the Pirates’ second-round pick in 2018. “The fan base, that was something I haven’t experienced in a long time. That was super special for me coming out of rookie ball last year to come into something like this.”

The 6-foot-5 righty from Waco, Texas, said he went into the 2018 draft with a draft number in mind. If a team met or exceeded his expectations, Ashcraft knew he wouldn’t be heading to Baylor.

The Pirates did just that, signing him above slot with a $1.825 million deal.

“I stuck to my number and when I got that phone call, it was a very easy decision for me,” Ashcraft said. “If I had to talk to anybody else going through that same process, I would say to pick a number and stick to it. Figure out what you think your value is, and if you stick to that, it makes the process much easier.”

His career began in the Gulf Coast League, where Ashcraft pitched in just five games, going 0-1 with a 4.58 ERA. After allowing three runs in the first inning — “I went into the first inning pretty amped up,” he said. “You can make some mistakes when you’re that amped up.” — Ashcraft settled in and was dominant over his final four innings.

“You could tell he was trying to do a little too much,” Saylor said. “It was like that with our whole team. It was nice to see how he rebounded. He kept pitching. I was real impressed with his outing.”

Over the next four innings, Ashcraft faced the minimum 12 batters and struck out three.

“I like to attack guys with my fastball and use secondary stuff when I have to,” Ashcraft said. “I want to make people uncomfortable and have uncomfortable at-bats.”

Overall, Ashcraft went five innings and allowed two hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out three. Facing a 3-2 deficit, West Virginia (0-1) left the bases loaded in the fifth and then had runners at first and third with two outs in the sixth, but Ryan Haug was thrown out at the plate to end the inning in what was an attempted run down situation with Luke Mangieri at first. Mangieri tried to get in a rundown between first and second long enough to allow Haug to score from third, but Mahoning Valley pitcher Brendan Meyer threw home to pick off Haug.

“It was a teachable moment for me, because I didn’t do a good enough job of communicating what I wanted in that situation,” Saylor said. “That was on me. I have to do a better job of preparing them for that situation.”

West Virginia scored two runs in the ninth to cut the Scrappers’ lead to one, but Nick Patten grounded out to first to end the game. Haug and Zack Kone each had two hits for West Virginia. The final game of the two-game series is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. today.

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