In the bottom of the ninth inning, State College catcher Mark Carver swung and missed at strike three for the first out of the inning. As he was finishing his swing, his bat flew out of his hands and soared in the air before landing at the brick backstop.
It was a microcosm of the Spikes' past week.
State College played the Williamsport Crosscutters for the sixth time in the past two weeks, the last game in the Sawbuck Series until August. The Crosscutters scored three runs in the middle innings off of Kyle McPherson, who relieved starter Ryan Kelly, to beat the Spikes, 5-2 last night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
The loss puts State College at a New York-Penn League worst 3-11. It was also the Spikes fifth straight loss and seventh loss in their last eight games.
No matter the poor start, State College manager Brad Fischer wasn't upset with his team's play -- especially recently.
"It's been frustrating but again like I tell the players, we're here to learn, we're here to get better, so we'll continue to work hard," Fischer said. "I'd be more frustrated if we didn't get the effort, but the guys are trying."
Sitting at his desk, with a fly-fishing rod that still had its receipt from Bass Pro Shops close by, Fischer said this losing streak is not a concern. His goal is for his team to improve, telling his team the games are about the process not the result, right now.
On a night when most of the noise from the crowd came from giveaway Slinkies, Williamsport jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning but battled back in the third after left fielder Quincy Latimore sent a long, carrying fly ball to deep center field. Crosscutters centerfielder D'Arby Myers couldn't track it down, as Latimore went for a triple to lead off the bottom half of the inning and later scored on Kyle Morgan's groundout.
The Spikes tied the game in the fourth inning when first baseman Calvin Anderson, who walked to open the inning, scored on Carver's groundout.
McPherson, who owned a 1.80 ERA when he entered the game in the fifth inning, allowed two runs in the fifth and another in the sixth.
"Everybody would like to perform at a higher level every single time they go out there, but that's not the case in baseball, period," McPherson said. "Tonight was probably a bump in the road for myself. I tried to go out there and command the fastball down in the zone but that wasn't the case. The ball was up in the zone a little bit."
State College was unable to generate much offense after the fifth inning, Cole White's single in the sixth inning was the only hit the Spikes had in the final four innings.
Despite the struggles for State College, Anderson said the mood in the clubhouse remains upbeat.
One cause of State College's troubles, Anderson said, was rust. Most of the Spikes had time off between their college season and opening day and it's just waiting for everything to "click", he added.
Another could be attributed to its schedule. In their fourteen games, the Spikes have played the Crosscutters and the Auburn Doubledays twelve times. Fischer said he felt like the Spikes have played Williamsport every day for the past two weeks. Today, they get to see a new opponent -- the Vermont Lake Monsters.
"We get to see new pitching," Anderson said. "A lot of these teams that we play have figured out how to pitch our guys so it's good to see new teams that haven't seen us."
