While the crowd roared, Kyle McPherson walked off the mound toward the dugout. He paused and gave a barely noticeable fist pump. Sixty feet or so away from McPherson stood Williamsport's Troy Hanzawa arguing with the home plate umpire over a called third strike.
Based on the reactions, it was hard to tell which team was mired in a 10-game losing streak.
The Spikes were in the midst of a 10-game losing streak but broke it last night with a 4-2 win over the Crosscutters at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. It may have been their crispest and most complete game of the season.
They got the big hit. They pitched well, really well -- only allowing three hits. The defense, although there was an error, was good.
"It has to be right at the top," State College manager Brad Fischer said as a replay of the ninth inning of Pirates pitcher Jeff Karstens' gem played on the TV. "We've had so few of them that I'm having trouble recalling any that were any better. That was just a nice complete game there."
Statistically, the Spikes had an uphill climb after the fourth inning. Williamsport catcher Travis d'Arnaud, brother of State College shortstop Chase, hit a solo home run to dead center field that never stopped carrying. That put the Crosscutters up 1-0. The significance -- prior to last night the Spikes were 1-23 when their opponent scored first.
Then the bottom of the fifth came. For the first time last night, the fans made more noise than the hundreds of barking dogs in attendance.
And for good reason, too.
State College had been atrocious for the majority of the season with runners in scoring position. The "big hit" had been elusive too many times. But with the bases loaded, third baseman Jeremy Farrell tripled in three runs, giving State College a lead that it would never relinquish.
"That's the kind of thing we've been missing lately, that two-out hit," Farrell said. "So it was especially good tonight to get that."
In the State College clubhouse after the game, it was not the scene that had been replayed night after night. Players did not sit at their stalls quietly. But it was not rambunctious, either.
Fischer's office is at the back right corner of the office. There, he talked about how much of a relief it was to finally get a win.
"Anything that we get, it's like a little chocolate chip out there now," he said. "It's pretty nice to have it at the end of your tongue."
Notes: Right-handed pitchers Mike Colla and Emilis Guerrero were sent down to Bradenton of the Gulf Coast League.
