As storm clouds gathered during the eighth inning of the Williamsport Crosscutters September 2nd MLB Draft League championship game, club PR director Gabe Sinicropi announced to the crowd that the scheduled postgame drone show would not be held because of the impending weather. Although disappointed by the news, Mother Nature conveniently waited until the final out to light up the sky above with her own light show as Cutters players dogpiled in the rain on the field following their 5-3 win over the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

In doing so, the Crosscutters claimed their second league title in the past three seasons, becoming the first team in league history to claim all the marbles by winning the first-half championship, the second-half title, and topping it all off with a win in the league championship game. It was a fitting way to conclude Bowman Field’s 100th anniversary.

“It is the way you want to write it up,” said a smiling Sinicropi. “Celebrate the 100th, have a great team, and win the championship. That is a fantastic season. Certainly, one of our best. The 47 regular-season wins were the second-best in our history. We were so lucky all this could be accomplished in Bowman Field’s 100th year.

“I met with the team late in the afternoon before the game and honestly told them I’ve been a part of a little over forty teams in my career and these guys were as talented, or more talented, than any of those teams. We had a lot of talent and passion in that room. They came through. What they accomplished had never been done in this league before.

“We are really proud of them. Especially offensively, they set so many Crosscutters team and MLB Draft League records. Individually, across the leaderboard, we were tops in just about every category. We were the best hitting, fielding, and pitching team. They are just a bunch of great guys and very talented players.”

A crowd of 2,486 enthusiastic fans, just fourteen tickets shy of the ballpark’s 2,500 seating capacity, witnessed the championship performance.

“We were just lucky, it was a horrible weather day, Sinicropi added. “Wednesday morning, I had my doubts, but we got a weather break from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m., just enough time for us to get the game in. The only negative was that we had to cancel the drone show, which the fans were looking forward to.”

As the team celebrated on the field below veteran 26-year public address announcer Rob Thomas removed his headset and savored the scene below.

“This season overall was one of the best seasons we’ve had that I’ve had the opportunity to be part of. We won the first half, we won the second half and topped it all by winning the championship game.

“With the MLB Draft League split season, you get two different teams each summer. This was kind of a surprise. We had four or five guys that played both halves, but each half came together as a team and played consistently.

“In the 2024 championship game, the crowd was enthusiastic, but this year’s crowd was even more into the game than I remembered it. It was a great crowd.”

Sharing Thomas’s sentiments, a hoarse Ian Catherine, who has broadcast the team’s games for the past 14 seasons, was equally joyful.

“Both these Cutters championships, in 2024 and this year, are both surreal. They are two different rosters but to see what this team can do, to win a title in front of this crowd, some of the best fans in baseball. Williamsport has such a rich history of respect for this game, and to see them be able to celebrate a win like this, with this team being incredible.

“In all honesty, this is the first year I’ve felt the first half roster shared the same fabric as the second half roster. Both teams knew how to run, how to hit, hit with some power and come up with clutch hits, and we had pitching staffs that knew how to pitch and get the job done. It was impressive to see the team perform that well in both halves of the season.”

It was Catherine who coined his home run call ‘that ball was lumberjacked’. He was able to use the phrase a bit more in the second half.

“Our guys in the second half were good power hitters. Jake McCoy, Matthew Williams, they knew how to hit, and when a pitcher made a mistake, they knew what to do with it. Home runs are not necessarily what Williamsport baseball is all about, especially in a big ballpark like this, but I wasn’t upset seeing the ball fly over the wall a little more in the second half and watching the Cutters jog around the bases.”

With mission accomplished, Sinicropi summed it up best.

“It was a wonderful season, and we greatly appreciated the support we received from the City, the fans, and the businesses and corporations in our area that are part of Crosscutters baseball. Collectively, we all had a lot to cheer about this season.