NILES — For two straight weekends, the West Virginia Black Bears visited Eastwood Field looking to catch the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the MLB Draft League standings. Both times, the Scrappers were able to stave off the Black Bears to maintain their first-place status.

The Black Bears returned to Eastwood Field yet again on Sunday. Only this time, it was the Scrappers trying to play catch-up in the standings.

Following a 1-4 road trip, the Scrappers fell out of first place for the first time this season and found themselves three games behind West Virginia.

On Sunday, West Virginia (19-9-5) extended that lead to four games thanks to a 1-0 victory in front of a large Independence Day crowd.

The Scrappers’ biggest threat of the night came in the ninth inning. With one out, Buck Anderson walked and stole second. With two outs, Jason Hinchman reached on an infield single. Anderson went to third on the hit, but was thrown out by Black Bears shortstop Jeron Williams after he rounded third and attempted to get back to the bag.

Through seven innings, Scrappers fans were treated to a rare 0-0 pitchers duel. Scrappers starter Deylen Miley worked the first five innings, giving up no runs and just two singles while recording three strikeouts. Black Bears starter Lane Flamm went six innings, giving up just three hits with eight strikeouts.

Scrappers reliever Eric Sapp worked 1.2 scoreless innings, recording four strikeouts.

The Black Bears finally broke through in the eighth off of Kerry Wright. Garrett Spain reached on a one-out double that fell just in front of Scrappers right fielder Zaid Walker. Spain then scored on a Tucker Mitchell single.

Despite the Scrappers’ struggle to score on Sunday, the offense has been a season-long bright spot. Bobby Sparling leads the league with 27 RBIs and a .359 batting average. Hinchman is second in the league with 24 RBIs while Dan Harwood is just one behind Hinchman.

“The very first day we met as a group, I told these guys that mentally they would hit a wall,” Scrappers hitting coach Vic Buttler said. “You come into the season with a lot of adrenaline and that carries you for a while, but eventually there comes a time when you hit a wall and have to mentally regroup.”

“Physically these guys have the tools; mentally, they’ve done everything right. They come every day ready to play, but from a mental standpoint it takes a lot to suddenly adjust to baseball every day, all day long.”

While the every-day grind may take a toll on players in the short-term, Buttler said it will pay dividends in the future. That is especially true for those who eventually will get drafted by a Major League club.

Buttler was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2000 and spent 11 years in professional baseball. In fact, he played at Eastwood Field while a member of the Williamsport Crosscutters.

“This (MLB Draft League) is the closest thing these players will experience to playing professional baseball,” Buttler said. “The every-day games, the early arrival to the park, the travel. This league entails everything that exists at the minor league level. This is a way better experience than your typical college summer league.”

The Scrappers and Black Bears continue their series tonight at 7:05.