Paints Beat Mill Rats 8-2

CHILLICOTHE, Ohio - The Chillicothe Paints, presented by CohenOrthopedic, broke a scoreless tie with five runs in the bottom of the fourth and never looked back in an 8-2 win over the Johnstown Mill Rats Tuesday night at VA Memorial Stadium. 

After Chillicothe (5-2) starter Karson Frye tossed three scoreless innings to start the game, the Paints hitters began to take over in the bottom of the fourth.

Alex Bemis led off with a walk, stealing second base before Tripp Johns worked a walk. With one out Mike Schaeffer collected his first hit and RBI as a Paint, driving home Bemis and making it 1-0. With the bases loaded, Mitchel Szymczak grounded to third and the Johsntown (3-4) third baseman threw home for the force out. On the play, the Mill Rats' catcher tried to throw to first for a double play, but the ball hit Szymczak in the back, kicking off into foul territory down the line, allowing two runs to score and making it 3-0. Szymczak, who moved up to second on the play, scored on a double by Brady Groves and it was 4-0. Cam Gravelle, in his first game back with the Paints this summer, singled home Groves, making it 5-0.

The Paints made it 7-0 with two more in the fifth, scoring on two-out single by Szymczak that registered 101 mph off the bat. After stealing second, Szymczak scored on a two-out hit by Groves. 

Taking advantage of a leadoff walk in the sixth, Johnstown scored on an RBI groundout by Caleb Smith, cutting the Paints' lead to 7-1. 

Chillicothe answered with a run in the bottom of the sixth, scoring on a bases-loaded walk by Szymczak, making it 8-1. 

Johnstown plated the game's final run in the seventh, scoring on Ty Marsh's RBI groundout.

Frye (1-0) earned the win for Chillicothe, allowing one unearned run on one hit, walking three and striking out five. Cameron Birch followed, throwing 1.1 innings and giving up one run on one hit and two walks. JT Fabian threw the final two innings, surrendering one hit and one walk while striking out four. 

Groves went 3-for-4 in the game with two RBIs. Samuel Meyer went 2-for4 with a double. Tannar Patterson also collected a pair of hits, going 2-for-5 and scoring twice. Justin Gorski reached base for the seventh-straight game to start the season, reaching on a first-inning single. He also walked twice. Gravelle, Schaefer, and Szymczak each had one hit. 

The Paints are on the road Wednesday and Thursday in Lafayette at 7 p.m. each night. They'll play in Kokomo Friday at 7:05. Fans can hear every game on Hank FM 100.9 FM and the Total Media Radio app for free. The game can be seen with a subscription on the Prospect League Network, powered by HTN at ProspectLeagueNetwork.com.