Chillicothe Paints' Blake Mascarello solid in win over Butler

Phil Gray
Chillicothe Gazette
Chillicothe, OH


Yes, the Paints went nuts in the bottom of the eighth, and yes, the score tells the story of a blowout.

But don't get too caught up in that.

Chillicothe sent 15 batters to the plate, hit two home runs -- one of them a grand slam -- and scored 11 runs -- all with two outs -- in the eighth, to blow open a 16-1 win Monday against Butler. It was the Paints' biggest single inning of the summer, and a sign the semi-stagnant offense of late might not just be on the verge of knocking down that door, but of blowing it up.

But again, don't get too caught up in that. After all, this game was won from the mound.

Blake Mascarello, who has been up and down since the middle of the first half out of the bullpen, turned in a gem of a spot start, holding Butler to one run on five hits in seven innings. Mascarello struck out nine and did not walk a batter.

"This was a competitive Blake out there tonight, and that's good to see," Paints manager Brian Mannino said. "And that's good to see. I think he's a better pitcher when he knows he's going to be on the mound, whether it's a situation where we tell him that he's got the sixth and seventh (innings, out of the bullpen) or when he has the start. The Blake you saw tonight can help us in a big way when he goes out and throws like that."

"I don't know that anything was that much different, but I felt good," Mascarello said. "I hit my spots and the offspeed was working well."

It was Mascarello's second start of the season, and his second win as a starting pitcher. In the gap between starts -- from June 7 to Monday -- Mascarello has been on a roller coaster that has taken him through two appearances in which he did not record an out to others when he has pitched four or more innings out of the bullpen without giving up a run.

"Blake started for us last year, and we know that he can be very successful at it," Mannino said. "But I would much rather have the Blake Mascarello that we saw tonight available every three or four days out of the bullpen than once a week (as a starter)."

Backing up Mascarello's strong performance was usual starter Matt Barnes, who took over in the eighth and allowed the first batter he faced, Cameron Squires, to reach on a dropped third strike. But Barnes picked Squires off at first and retired the next two in order. After the offense rattled off that 11-run eighth, Cody Elliott mopped up by striking out the side in the top of the ninth.

Chillicothe scored three runs in the first two innings to stake Mascarello to a lead that was never in doubt, then added another in the bottom of the fourth. Butler finally got a run in the top of the seventh on a run-scoring ground ball by Colby Roberts, but the Paints pushed their lead back to four runs in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single by David Turnbull.

It was a breezy four-run lead already. And that was before Chillicothe's offense went crazy in the eighth.

"I was confident, because you always know that this offense is capable of going out and putting a lot of things together at any time," Mascarello said. "As a pitcher, that's a good feeling to have."

The bottom of the eighth started innocently enough, with Jeff Onstott bouncing out to first and Brandon White popping out to second. But Jeff Holm got things going when he shot his ninth home run of the summer into the trees in right.

Between then and when Adam Gecewich lined out hard to the center fielder, the Paints had put together seven hits, drawn two bases-loaded walks and made a big inning even bigger on Greg Van Horn's grand slam just inside the foul pole in left.

It was a big break for an offense that had stranded 10 runners in a seven-inning game the day before, and, despite the early lead, did not get a clutch hit early in the game Monday.

"It was frustrating in those first few innings," Mannino said. "We had several opportunities where we were one hit away from breaking the game open, but we struggled early against that guy (Butler starter Reed Tomlinson). In the dugout, we always talk about if you let the other team hang around too long, it's going to hurt you. Well, we have the kind of offense where, if you make too many mistakes against us, this offense will kill you."

Van Horn finished the day 3-for-6 with two runs scored and four RBI. Gecewich drove in three runs with three hits, while White, Holm and Ian Nielsen each drove in two.

The Paints host Butler again today at VA before taking Wednesday off.