A Pair of Homers Catapult Bradenton to Win

Bradenton, Fla. — The Marauders (19-13) played host to Lakeland (13-19) on Saturday night in front of over 2,000 fans on Star Wars and Disability Awareness Night at LECOM Park. The Marauders would count on power hitting to give them the win as they let clutch pitching finish the game off in fine style with a final score of 4-2.

Bradenton rode the solid start of JP Massey in the contest; the righty tossed five shutout innings, striking out nine while allowing only four base runners. Luis Peralta followed the strong start of Massey, allowing one earned run while striking out six and earning the hold.

The Marauders piled on three runs in the 2nd innings; Javier Rivas singled to start the frame, then Emmanuel Terrero doubled off the wall in center to bring Jivas in. The next man up, Alexander Mojica, drove a hung slider deep to left. It was Mojica’s third bomb of the year, giving Bradenton a 3-0 lead after two innings.

The Baby Buccos added another run in the 3rd when Shailin Polanco hit a solo blast to right on the first pitch of the inning to put the hometown team up 4-0 after a third of the game was played.

Lakeland rallied to score a pair of runs in the sixth and missed a chance to score even more. The Tigers were 1-11 with runners in scoring position, leaving eight men on base.

Elijah Birdsong was called upon in the ninth to finish the game out; the righty struck out two and earned his first safe of the 2023 season. With the 4-2 victory, the Marauders took a 3-2 lead in the series.

Bradenton will look to clinch the series win on Sunday with Derek Diamond on the mound for the Noon first pitch.