Stephen Scott stuns sellout crowd with first home run

The Toledo Mud Hens filled Fifth Third Field with 10,700 fans as they took on the Columbus Clippers Wednesday night. Fresh off of a 5-2 victory, the Hens looked to make a habit out of winning. The sellout crowd helped cheer for a Toledo rally and stayed for the fireworks after even though the Mud Hens fell short 4-2.

Despite their efforts, the Mud Hens fell behind early against the Clippers. Matt Manning opened the game with two strikeouts in the first, but then gave up a triple to Myles Straw in the second inning. Columbus was able to take the lead from there as Micah Pries picked up the RBI on a groundout to Javier Baez.

Toledo struggled to take on lefty Doug Nikhazy, as he held the Hens hitless through the first two innings. This isn’t a shock though as Nikhazy has made a quick adjustment to Triple-A after being called up from the Akron RubberDucks June 24. He made his first start in a Clippers uniform four days later and threw a complete-game shutout.

The Clippers continued to cause problems for Manning, expanding their lead in the fifth inning. Christian Cairo got the inning started with a leadoff double. Angel Martinez set up Juan Brito nicely by drawing a walk before Brito hit a double of his own to make it 3-0.

It looked as though the Mud Hens would be given a chance as Tanner Burns took the mound and Bligh Madris immediately hit a ball deep into the right-field corner. He turned on the jets, stretching the hit into a triple. The Hens, however, were unable to capitalize on this moment as three straight outs brought the game into the seventh inning.

The sellout crowd would regain their energy thanks to an unlikely suspect in the bottom of the seventh. Stephen Scott entered the game at left field, moving Ryan Vilade to second base, and Riley Unroe to shortstop, as Baez went to the bench. The crowd was unfamiliar with Scott, until he put Toledo back in the game with a two-run homer. He took Burns 421 ft into right field as the entire stadium rose to their feet.

With the lead back within their grasp, the Mud Hens and the fans at Fifth Third Field put their trust into Easton Lucas. He kept his team alive, forcing three outs and giving the offense another crack at the rally.

In Toledo’s way of the rally was righty Peter Strzelecki. He came into Wednesday night with a 4.44 ERA and 7 saves on the season. Madris picked up a base hit and made it all the way to third, but Cairo would take matters into his own hands. The next three Toledo outs all found their way to the glove of Cairo at shortstop.

Lucas upended the ninth with two quick outs, but things quickly turned bleak for the Hens. Martinez picked up his third base hit of the game to disrupt Lucas’s rhythm. Following that, Brito hit his third double of the day for his third RBI of the game, making it 4-2 in favor of the Clippers.

The Hens were down to their final three outs and short just two runs. There was still some hope though as Navigato was up to bat. He and the next two batters would all groundout as Toledo fell 4-2 to Columbus.

Win or lose a fireworks show was promised and Fifth Third Field delivered. Fans were amazed by the display that was brought before them as Toledo celebrated Independence Day.

The Hens are heading to Columbus to close out this series, beginning with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch Thursday.

Notables:

• Stephen Scott (1-1, HR, 2 RBI, R)
• Bligh Madris (2-4, 3B)
• Andrew Navigato (2-4, 2B, R, K)