NYPL State College Spikes

State College Spikes Game Notes - June 19 vs. Williamsport

June 19, 2015 - New York-Penn League (NYPL)
State College Spikes News Release


Friday, June 19 - 7:05 p.m.

Medlar Field at Lubrano Park - University Park, PA

WILLIAMSPORT CROSSCUTTERS - Philadelphia Phillies (0-0) at

STATE COLLEGE SPIKES - St. Louis Cardinals (0-0) 

Game #1 / Home Game #1

Starting Pitchers:

State College - LHP Ian McKinney (0-0, 0.00)

Williamsport - RHP Alejandro Arteaga (0-0, 0.00)

TONIGHT (7:05 vs. Williamsport): Opening Night presented by PSECU and 95.3 FM 3WZ...Opening Night FIREWORKS Spectacular presented by PSECU...Spikes Schedule Magnet Giveaway (First 2,500 Fans, All Ages) presented by PSECU...4 for $44 Friday Northwest Family Value Ticket Package presented by Northwest and MAJIC 99...New York-Penn League Championship Banner Reveal...10th Season Celebration Kickoff...DQ® Cupcake Giveaway (First 100 Fans, All Ages) presented by Dairy Queen Grill & Chill...Post-Game Kids Run the Bases presented by Clinical Outcomes Group, Inc.

SUNDAY NIGHT (6:05 vs. Williamsport): FIREWORKS, NYPL Championship Replica Ring Giveaway (First 999 Fans) and NYPL Championship AUTHENTIC Ring Giveaway (One Lucky Fan) presented by First National Bank

-SPIKES START NYPL TITLE DEFENSE TONIGHT IN 10TH SEASON OPENER: The State College Spikes, on the heels of their first-ever New York-Penn League championship, seek to become the first team since the Staten Island Yankees of 2005-06 to successfully defend its NYPL crown as the club's 10th Season in Central PA begins tonight. The Spikes take on their SawBuck Series rivals, the Williamsport Crosscutters, in the first game of a three-game set between the two teams. State College has opened the season against Williamsport in nine of the franchise's 10 seasons, and the Crosscutters provided the opposition for the first game in Medlar Field at Lubrano Park history on June 20, 2006. The Spikes are 56-52 all-time against Williamsport, and won the 2014 SawBuck Series by going 10-2 against the Crosscutters, the most lopsided season-ending result between the two teams since the rivalry's inception in 2006.

-LAST SEASON: The Spikes won the first New York-Penn League championship in franchise history as they took down the Tri-City ValleyCats in three games to win the title and take revenge against the team that defeated them in the 2013 NYPL Championship Series. Led by the unparalleled achievements of Rowan Wick, State College raced to a 26-9 start on its way to copping a second straight NYPL Pinckney Division title. Wick smashed 14 home runs in just 37 games with the Spikes before earning promotion to SIngle-A Peoria, and set the club's record for long balls by July 2. The slugger also earned the league's slugging percentage crown by rule, despite playing just half the year.

On the mound, the Spikes were led by Will Anderson, who set a new Spikes single-game record with 10 strikeouts against Williamsport on June 29 on his way to going 6-2 with a 2.43 ERA. Anderson and the frontline of starters also received excellent support from closer Kyle Grana (3-2, 0.89 ERA, 8 saves) and reliever Nick Lomascolo (tied with Grana for league lead with 27 appearances).

-McKINNEY MAKES OPENING DAY START FOR SPIKES: Left-hander Ian McKinney gets the ball tonight for State College. McKinney was the Cardinals' fifth-round draft choice in 2013 out of Boone High School in Orlando, FL, and began his 2014 season starting against Williamsport during the opening week of the summer. The southpaw then went down to Rookie-level Johnson City and had a tremendous stint, twice earning Appalachian League Player of the Week honors and earning a return trip to State College. McKinney's season was then cut short by injury after one start in his Spikes return. The lefty posted a 0.89 ERA in ten appearances, five of them starts, in 2013 for the Gulf Coast League Cardinals. McKinney also recorded a 24-to-12 strikeout-to-walk ratio for the GCL Cards.

-WILLIAMSPORT TAPS ARTEAGA FOR MOUND START: The Spikes will meet a familiar face on the mound this evening as right-hander Alejandro Arteaga gets the ball for the Crosscutters. Arteaga started Opening Night against the Spikes in 2014 as well, taking the loss after yielding six runs, but just one earned, over five innings. The Pala Negro Aragua, Venezuela native also took on the Spikes twice more last season, taking the loss in both of those starts as well. Arteaga was signed by the Phillies as an international free agent in 2011, and comes off a season in which he gave up a .311 average to opposing hitters in the New York-Penn League.

-THAT CHAMPIONSHIP FEELING: Nine players who appeared for the Spikes during last year's championship season return to the club at the dawn of the 2015 season. Tonight's starting pitcher, Ian McKinney, is joined by fellow returning hurlers Tyler Bray, Dailyn Martinez and Kender Villegas on the Opening Day staff. The Spikes also welcome back catcher Brian O'Keefe, infielders Ronnierd Garcia and Leobaldo PIna, and outfielders Jhohan Acevedo and Kenny Peoples-Walls from the 2014 squad. Meanwhile, manager Johnny Rodriguez leads a group of seven players who played for the 2014 Johnson City club, including McKinney, Martinez and infielders Casey Grayson and Cole Lankford, among others

-SPIKE MARKS: 2015 marks the first season that the Spikes and Crosscutters are not each other's most frequent opponent on the schedule, as their 11 meetings trail the 12 times each club meets two other teams in the NYPL Pinckney Division...Spikes honorary bench coach Josiah Viera, who helped inspire the club to last year's league championship, will throw out tonight's ceremonial first pitch of the season, while the championship banner will be revealed as well prior to the game.

Check out the State College Spikes Statistics



New York-Penn League Stories from June 19, 2015


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