Photo courtesy of Ben Wolverton/Trenton Thunder Trenton Thunder first baseman Rintaro Sasaki takes the field at Thunder Ballpark prior to a recent home game. Sasaki joined the Thunder after setting a Japanese high school career home run record. After graduating high school in March, Sasaki enrolled at Stanford.
For a fourth straight game, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers found themselves trailing in the first inning.
For a ninth straight game, the Scrappers found themselves trailing on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
The Scrappers on Thursday fell to the Frederick Keys, this time it was a 6-5 setback in front of 3,082 Buck Night fans at Eastwood Field.
The Scrappers fall to 8-12 while Frederick evens its record to 10-10. The Keys have won five straight.
Ten days ago, the Scrappers were in first place in the MLB Draft League standings with an 8-3 record. Today they find themselves in last place, seven games behind Williamsport.
Scrappers starter Peyton Olejnik retired the first two batters of the game before a walk and three straight hits gave Frederick a 3-0 lead. Allan Gil-Fernandez plated the first two runs with a double. Gil-Fernandez then scored on an Owen Carapellotti base hit.
The Scrappers cut their deficit to 3-2 in the bottom of the third. Jordan Donahue scored the Scrappers’ first run on a Jordan Taylor double. Taylor then scored on a throwing error.
Mahoning Valley tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth. Jared Quandt led off with a walk, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error then scored on a John Schroeder sacrifice fly.
However, Frederick immediately took the lead for good when Tervell Johnson hit his first home run of the year in the top of the seventh. The Keys added two more runs in the inning to take a 6-3 lead.
The Scrappers inched closer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth. They advanced a runner to third in the ninth, but were unable to push across the tying run.
The Scrappers begin a three-game home series tonight against Trenton.
TRENTON’S SASAKI COMING TO TOWN
Japan’s latest home run sensation will spend his weekend at Eastwood Field.
Trenton infielder Rintaro Sasaki, who hit a Japanese high school record 140 home runs, will make his Mahoning Valley debut tonight when the Thunder begin a three-game weekend series against the Scrappers.
Sasaki is a 19-year-old recent graduate of Hanamaki-Higashi High School, the same high school that produced Shohei Ohtani. Both players were coached by Sasaki’s father.
Sasaki, who graduated in March, was projected to be selected first overall in the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft. However, he passed on the draft and opted to enroll at Stanford, where he began studies in April. In doing so, Sasaki will not have to wait nine years to become an international free agent or wait for his Japanese team to offer him to an MLB club. Instead, he will be eligible for the MLB draft as a college sophomore in 2026.
Sasaki broke the previous Japanese high school home run record of 111.
“Rintaro is already a household name throughout Japan, he’s already a legend,” Thunder Director of Media Relations Mike Warren said. “Here in Trenton he has become an instant attraction and fan favorite. Rarely does someone live up to this type of hype, but Rintaro has done just that.”
Warren also serves as the Thunder’s radio play-by-play broadcaster.
Sasaki joined the Thunder on June 11. That night in his second at-bat in a game at Frederick, he belted a two-run homer over the right field wall at Nymeo Field. Through his first 40 plate appearances, he has three home runs and 10 RBIs.
“I knew something special was going to happen, so I actually turned around and told the guys, ‘I want to admire this.’ Then next thing you know, he drops the head (of the bat) and he clears,” Thunder manager Adonis Smith told MLB.com reporter Melanie Martinez-Lopez. “It was magical.”
Sasaki has since been playing in front of sellout crowds at Trenton’s Thunder Ballpark, a stadium that seats 6,440 fans.
“We have long lines of autograph seekers forming outside of the player entrance, we have die-hard baseball fans and even non-baseball fans coming out just to get a glimpse of Rintaro,” Warren said. “The hype has been off the charts, and he’s living up to it all and he’s taking it all in stride. He’s been very even-keeled and very professional in his approach to the craziness.”
Warren noted that Thunder Stadium has also seen a major uptick in the number of scouts at Trenton home games. Roughly 25 scouts have been in attendance since Sasaki’s arrival.
Sasaki’s legendary status in Trenton was established several hours prior to his first appearance in a home game.
“During batting practice his first night here, Rintaro hit eight balls out of the stadium and four hit our jumbotron,” Warren said. “One ball that he hit cleared a giant tree outside the stadium. Someone went to retrieve the ball and it wasn’t there, it ended up in the river beyond the stadium.
“When he’s in the cage, people just stop and stare. The sound off his bat, it’s nothing anyone here has heard since Aaron Judge was here (in 2015). Our manager has seen it all, and he is awestruck at Rintano’s presence and his potential.”
The Scrappers and Thunder begin their three-game series tonight at 7:05. A night game will follow on Saturday, with the series concluding with an afternoon affair on Sunday.
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