Jul 20, 2025
DAVE KENNEDY/Sun-Gazette Williamsport’s Marcus Brodil became the first Crosscutter to steal multiple bases on Saturday in the second half of the MLB Draft League.
By the end of the first half, the Williamsport Crosscutters were on pace for a historically bad year at stealing bases.
Across 30 games played in the first half season, Williamsport would steal a putrid 36 bases, less than half of the next lowest team in the MLB Draft League.
Even with a fresh crop of talent to the Cutters for the second half, those issues seemed to have persisted, with Williamsport swiping just one bag in their first three games. Even with 16 new faces on the team and a revamped lineup, it seemed as if problems would still persist.
But then Saturday happened.
It was expected to be more of the same when Williamsport hosted the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in the beginning of a two game weekend series. Mahoning, who led the first half in stolen bases and had swiped eight bags in their opening series of the second half against the Frederick Keys, were expected to dominate the basepaths on the night.
A change of personnel and, maybe, a change of identity was needed.
In preparation for the game, Williamsport manager Kenny Thomas would sell out on speed for the lineup. Continuing his form of batting notable speedsters Vantrel Reed, Jackson Mayo and Marcus Brodil in the top four spots in the lineup, Thomas would implement two changes to add speed to the lineup. Those changes included bringing back Carlos Castillo, who’s .230 batting average was set aside for his team leading nine stolen bases.
In addition, rather than place TJ Rachbaumer in the nine hole, who had been thriving in the bottom of the order, the catcher would move up a spot to fit in Rayth Peterson.
Going into Saturday, Peterson was an unknown commodity, who had just one hit in eight at-bats across two appearances.
The result? Eye opening.
Williamsport would steal more than twice as many bases as the speedy Scrappers, with Williamsport swiping five bags on the night, also more than double the number they had going into the night.
Marcus Brodil would become the first Cutter to steal multiple bases in the second half, eventually crossing home in the same inning once. Peterson, Reed, and Castillo would all steal a base as well. In the end, Billtown were a perfect five for five on stolen base attempts, a far cry from Mahoning Valley’s two stolen bases on three attempts.
In addition to the stolen base, Peterson was a revelation, going three for four with a three run home run that ultimately decided the game.
Turns out, the speedster had some power as well.
The end result was a dominant Cutters win that brought them back to 2-2 in the second half, and potentially lit the fuse for a run early on in the second half.
“If you notice the lineup, I had speed in there tonight,” said Williamsport manager Kenny Thomas. “That’s what I decided this morning at four o’clock laying in bed, trying to figure out. I’m gonna really put the speed in there. I tried to put it at the top, and then at the bottom where it could come back around.”
It should also be noted that defensively, catcher TJ Rauchbaumer has become a notable figure behind the plate. In games that Rauchbaumer catches, opposing teams average 1.7 stolen base attempts per game, not including two successful pick offs
In the one game where Rauchbauer did not catch going into Sunday, the opposing team attempted 11 stolen bases, stealing 10.
Following the weekend, Williamsport are on the road against the Trenton Thunder in a two-game set before coming back home for a three-game series versus the West Virginia Black Bears starting Wednesday.
Copyright © 2025 Sun-Gazette, LLC | https://www.sungazette.com | 252 W. Fourth Street, Williamsport, PA 17703 | 570-326-1551
