JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Johnstown Mill Rats left fielder Jack Newman entered Thursday’s action without a hit or a run batted in through two games in the Prospect League season.
Newman checked both boxes in a big way at Sargent’s Stadium at the Point.
He collected a pair of hits and drove in three runs. Newman’s two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning sparked the Mill Rats’ 6-4 victory over the Burlington Bees in front of 275 fans.
“I was just trying to keep it simple,” said Newman as Johnstown improved to 2-1 during the season-opening homestand.
“I had struggled in the first two games, swinging too hard. I knew all I had to do was see a certain pitch and try to poke it that way. Lucky enough, it had some flight on it.”
Newman was 0-for-5 in the first two games of the season.
His run-scoring single with two outs in the sixth inning pulled the Mill Rats into a 3-all tie and helped erase the sting of an earlier strikeout and an inning-ending double play.
Newman’s two-run blast cleared the brick wall in left-center field, as live game-tracking technology noted the ball traveled 394 feet at 100 miles per hour.
“It was a two-seam fastball away and I just took it that way,” said Newman, who bats left-handed.
The two-run margin was enough for relief pitcher Owen Wilfong, who is Newman’s teammate at Florida State College of Jacksonville.
The right-hander pitched the final two scoreless innings, striking out five and walking one. Wilfong didn’t allow a hit.
“It was a big bounce-back game,” Wilfong said referring to Johnstown’s 16-3 loss to Chillicothe Wednesday morning.
“We had some problems on the mound (Wednesday), so the approach was to attack the zone. Our pitching coach says, ‘Attack or be attacked.’ ”
Three Mill Rats hurlers combined on 16 strikeouts against the Bees.
Starter Tyler Suttner threw four innings, fanning four and walking two. Reliever Mason Miles tossed three innings, striking out seven with one walk.
“All three of our pitchers came out and threw really well,” Mill Rats manager Tyler Smith said.
“They came out and gave us a chance while we’re still figuring out the wood bats offensively.”
Mill Rats center fielder Austin Lafferty and designated hitter Ty Marsh each had two hits.
Marsh and Trey Gardner each doubled in the seventh inning to tie the game at 4-all.
Lafferty’s two-out single to center field in the eighth preceded Newman’s homer.
“Figure out a way to win,” Smith said. “Lafferty gets a big two-out hit that kind of goes unnoticed. Jack Newman with the big blast puts us up two and we win it. It’s always fun to win games late where you’re in them the whole time and you end up on the right side of things.”
Kole Sonnenburg led Burlington with two hits, including a triple, and two runs scored.
The Mill Rats and Bees meet again at 7 p.m. Friday at the Point.
Mike Mastovich is a sports reporter and columnist for The Tribune-Democrat. He can be reached at 814-532-5083. Follow him on Twitter @Masty81.
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