NILES — The State College Spikes’ race to the playoffs continues its path through Niles.

For a third straight week, the Spikes visited Eastwood Field for a midweek three-game series against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. The Spikes began each series one game behind West Virginia in the MLB Draft League second-half standings.

The trend continued Tuesday as the Spikes blasted the Scrappers 14-2. State College remains one game behind the Black Bears.

State College scored a pair of runs in the first and never looked back. A Trent Taylor triple plated Marques Paige, then Taylor scored on a wild pitch.

The Scrappers loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the first, but failed to score.

Spikes starter Louis Davenport logged his second solid start in seven days against MV. Last week he recorded a franchise-high 12 strikeouts. Tuesday he worked six innings, giving up two runs with nine strikeouts.

Five State College players recorded a multi-hit game. Dawson Bailey went 3-for-6 with five RBI. Marques Paige went 3-for-6 with a pair of RBI.

State College lifts its record to 38-29 (18-11). Mahoning Valley falls to 24-44 (9-20).

The two teams continue their three-game series tonight at 7:05.

TEACHING BASEBALL

To suggest that Spikes manager Dave Trembley is a baseball lifer would be an understatement.

For the past 47 years, Trembley has been at every level of the game while serving as a coach, an instructor and manager.

“I view myself as a teacher, regardless of what my role might be, I like to consider myself a teacher of the game,” Trembley said.

In fact, Trembley began his baseball coaching career at Daniel Murphy High School where he served as a teacher and a coach for three years from 1977-1979. He then taught and coached at Antelope Valley College for five years before landing his first professional gig in 1984 as a Los Angeles-area scout for the Chicago Cubs.

Since then, Trembley has managed at every level of professional ball. He was a minor league manager for 20 years. He was an instructor in the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Korea and Taiwan.

In 2007 at the age of 55, Trembley was named manager of the Baltimore Orioles – a role he held for four years. He then became the Director of Player Development for the Atlanta Braves, then a bench coach and third base coach for the Houston Astros.

Last year Trembley worked in conjunction with Major League Baseball in the Appalachian League. When the MLB Draft League called this past winter, Trembley jumped at the chance to manage the Spikes – under his terms.

“I told the league that I wanted to be able to teach old-school, baseball fundamentals,” Trembley said. “I wanted players who were eager to learn the nuances of the game. I love to teach fundamentals and baseball etiquette.

“Kids today unfairly get labeled as not wanting to be coached, not wanting to learn the ins and outs of the game. That’s not true at all.”

Now 70-years-old, Trembley’s daily routine includes throwing batting practice and hitting pregame grounders. He also coached third base earlier this summer, but has since turned that duty over to a player who he sees as a future coach.

“I found that as you get older you have to identify what your purpose in life is,” Trembley said. “I feel like I was meant to teach. I don’t golf, I’m not a social media or new-age electronics person. I’m a teacher and a baseball guy. This is what I was meant to do.”