By STEVE RUMAN

Correspondent

The Mahoning Valley Scrappers on Thursday said good-bye to Eastwood Field for the 2024 season.

In their final home game of the season, the Scrappers’ farewell party – and their playoff hopes – were dimmed by a 12-2 loss to Frederick in front of 2,368 fans.

The Scrappers are now off to Williamsport and West Virginia, and if things can go their way, perhaps a return trip to Williamsport next Thursday.

The Scrappers play six consecutive road games to conclude the regular season. They begin tonight with the start of a three-game series at Williamsport, followed by three games at West Virginia.

On Sept. 5, Williamsport will host the MLB Draft League second-half winner in the league championship game.

The Scrappers (35-34 / 19-16) are now 1.5 games behind West Virginia in the Draft League standings.

Against the Keys the Scrappers scored the game’s first run in the first inning without the benefit of a base hit. Frederick would take a 4-1 lead before the Scrappers finally tallied their first hit – and second run – in the fifth.

However the Keys put things away with a six-run seventh inning.

Frederick pounded out 19 hits. Brandon Hylton and Sam Ruta both went 4-for-6 and combined for seven RBIs.

The Scrappers were limited to just three hits.

The Scrappers will finish the season with a 21-17 record at Eastwood Field.

HELLUMS IS A LATE-BLOOMER ON MOUND

When asked to sum up the journey which brought him to the MLB Draft League, Mahoning Valley Scrappers pitcher Miles Hellums instantly responds with a one-sentence reply.

“Well, I was once a hitter who didn’t know how to pitch, now I’m a pitcher that can’t hit, that’s my story,” Hellums said.

Hellums, a 6-foot-3 right hander from Robstown, TX, began playing baseball at the age of three. For the first 15 years of his playing career, he was a full-time infielder and a part-time outfielder. He entered San Jacinto Community College as a renowned hitter and expected to play first base.

However while playing in a fall tournament during his freshman season, SJCC needed an extra arm, and the coaches turned to Hellums solely based on his arm strength.

“I could throw hard, but that’s all I could do from a pitching standpoint,” Hellums said. “I was able to get by for a few innings here and there, but at the college level if all you can do is throw a fastball down the middle of the plate it’s not going to be pretty long term.”

Still, the SJCC coaches saw enough in Hellums that they decided to develop him as a pitcher while still playing him in the everyday lineup. For the next two years, Hellums was a two-way player – a rarity at the college level.

“It was a pretty neat experience, something I’m proud of because it showed that the coaches had a lot of trust in me, and they believed in me,” Hellums said.

By the time Hellums was about to enter his junior season, colleges were seeking his services as a pitcher. He would go on to transfer to Sam Houston College, where he played his final two seasons of college ball. While at Sam Houston, Hellums earned a degree in health science while minoring in biology.

This past spring in his senior season at Sam Houston, Hellums went 3-1. He worked 47.2 innings with five starts while coming out of the bullpen in 13 games.

“It has taken a long time to get to this point, I’ve learned more than I ever knew there was to learn about the art of pitching,” Hellums said. “My biggest challenge was learning to execute on every pitch, learning to be able to change your timing, change your tempo.”

“As a hitter I never thought about those things, but now I see that there is much more than just throwing hard or throwing different types of pitches.”

With the Scrappers, Hellums has worked in 12 games (22 innings), all out of the bullpen. He owns a 2.45 ERA.

“My former summer league coaches can’t believe it when they hear I’m a pitcher,” Hellums said. “My coach at Sam Houston always tells me that I’m still a baby in terms of being a pitcher. That’s what drives me to keep playing this game, the fact that I know that perhaps the best is still yet to come.”

Hellums plans to eventually return to school to earn a master’s degree in anesthesia, with the goal of becoming an anesthesiologist assistant. However, for now, he is not ready to end his career in baseball.

“Some day it will end, but not just yet,” Hellums said. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe I had a legitimate chance of playing at the next level. Until I know for certain I can’t go on any longer, I’ll continue to pursue my baseball dream.”

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