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Akron manager has Bucs ties

Akron manager Tony Mansolino once played with a couple of dozen future Curve players as a minor leaguer with the Pirates, but he never got the call to Altoona himself.

Mansolino now is in position to give the Curve fits with the RubberDucks, who pretty much have always given Altoona problems.

Akron, which is in first place in the Western Division, blanked the Curve, 3-0, Tuesday night before 2,952 fans at Peoples Natural Gas Field. Altoona managed just three hits and was done in by walks, issuing eight free passes, including a bases-loaded one in the fifth inning as the RubberDucks took the lead for good.

Mansolino is in his first season managing Akron, and after the game he reminisced some about his playing days in the Pirates’ system more than a decade ago.

“I remember a lot of good players,” he said. “(Andrew) McCutchen, obviously. Steve Pearce, Jared Hughes. … Some good players, and I just remember a good group of guys.”

Mansolino was a 26th round draft pick of the Pirates out of Vanderbilt in 2005. His father, Doug, had been the Bucs’ minor league roving infield and defense coordinator in 2003 and ’04 before becoming the Houston Astros’ third base coach in 2005.

Mansolino was coming up through the Pirates’ system at the same time as a young McCutchen. The 2006 low-A Hickory team he played on included Cutch, Pearce, Hughes, Jason Delaney, Brad Corley, Steve Lerud, Mike Crotta, Brad Lincoln, Todd Redmond and several other future Curve players (many of whom would go on to the majors).

Mansolino played several positions on that team and hit .234 with seven homers and 46 RBIs. He made it up to high-A Lynchburg with the Bucs over the next two years, hitting .222 in 2007 and .164 in 2008 before getting released.

His manager during those days in the Bucs’ system was Jeff Branson, now the Pirates’ hitting coach.

“Loved him to death, just a guy that I really appreciated,” Mansolino said. “I feel like he tried to help me in my career as much as he could, and looking back, I really appreciate that now.”

As for his days playing alongside a then-19-year-old McCutchen, “He could really hit,” Mansolino said. “It was like lightning, man. He was developing defensively at that time. I played with him in GCL, as well. Just great kid, mature beyond his years. Not surprised at all to see him become the perennial All-Star.”

Mansolino saw so many of his teammates make it up to the Curve and beyond, and he eventually did get to Double-A for a few games with Reading in 2008. His calling, though, appears to be in coaching, and at just 35 years old, he’s already making a big name for himself in one of the best organizations in baseball.

Mansolino won a Carolina league title with Lynchburg last season, and this year the Indians promoted him to Akron, which has been the Eastern League’s biggest and most consistent force since the Curve’s arrival in 1999.

“I feel like the organization I’m in now, the Cleveland Indians, and the Pittsburgh Pirates are very similar type of people that run the organization,” Mansolino said. “Solid people that care about the players, people that care about the staff.”

It’s no secret that the Indians have been so good for so long throughout their minor league system, and Akron is a perfect example, having won five EL titles and seven division titles since the Curve joined the league.

And once again this year, if the Curve are to enjoy another successful season, they’ll have to go through Akron.

What is it that makes the Indians so good in the minors?

“They utilize every possible resource you can imagine,” Mansolino said. “They care about every individual player that we sign, whether they give them $1 million or $1. They treat them the same. I feel like the extent we go to try to help our players is second to none.

“I feel like I’m in a great place with the Cleveland Indians,” he added. “I feel like they developed me. I had a lot of development growing up as a kid with my dad, and the Indianas have complemented that in the eight years I’ve been here.”

Game recap

Key player: Akron RHP Zach Plesac pitched six shutout innings.

Key play: The RubberDucks got a bases-loaded walk in the fifth inning and pulled away with two insurance runs in the eighth.

Key stat: The Curve are 183-225 all-time against Akron. They have gone 1196-1127 against all other EL competition.

How they scored

Top fifth: Mathias walked, scored on Haggerty bases-loaded walk (0-1).

Top eighth: Tom walked, scored on Calica single (0-2); Marabell sacrifice fly scored Calica (0-3).

Next stop

Tonight: Akron at Altoona, 6 p.m.

Pitchers: Curve LHP Brandon Waddell (2-1, 2.68) vs. RubberDucks RHP Dominic DeMasi (4-1, 6.49)

Record: 23-24

Covering the bases

LEADING OFF: RHP Dario Agrazal was placed on the disabled list with a right shoulder strain. Agrazal (3-2) is seventh in the Eastern League with a 2.79 ERA in nine appearances.

SAFE AT FIRST: “I’m not sure yet,” manager Michael Ryan said regarding the length of Agrazal’s recovery time. “I don’t see him coming back any time soon. … You feel bad for the kid. He got on the 40-man (roster). He had a great opportunity this year. I think he’ll pitch again at some point this year. We’ve just got to make sure he’s going to be OK.”

STEALING SECOND: OF Bryan Reynolds went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his first game back (broken hamate bone in hand) since April 8 for Altoona. Reynolds was acquired in the Andrew McCutchen trade from the San Francisco Giants and is ranked by MLB.com as the sixth-best prospect in the Pirates’ organization.

ROUNDING THIRD: “You’re never going to be 100 percent coming off that injury,” Ryan said about Reynolds. “That’s just something he’s going to have to get over. The great thing is he can’t do it again. It’s just a matter of trust. Certain swings he’s going to feel it. (It’s just) about how much he can take.”

HEADING HOME: Tuesday’s game featured a good pitchers’ duel between Akron RHP Zach Plesac (2-0) and Curve RHP Pedro Vasquez (0-2). Plesac, nephew of former major league pitcher Dan Plesac, tossed six shutout innings for the win, allowing just three hits with four strikeouts and no walks. Vasquez (0-2) took the loss despite a strong seven-inning outing, giving up one run on five hits with five strikeouts and three walks. RHP Argenis Angulo earned his fourth save for Akron.

— Thomas Schlarp

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