Bats Come Alive Late as Bradenton Falls 2-1 in Series Finale

INF Kalae Harrison Reaches Base Three Times in Loss

By Thomas Zinzarella/Bradenton Marauders

June 2, 2024

FORT MYERS, FL — With two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Jack Noble (SV,2) entered out of the bullpen and struck out Wesley Zapata to end the contest at 2-1 as the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels held off the Bradenton Marauders late comeback attempt on Sunday

FORT MYERS, FL — With two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning, Jack Noble (SV,2) entered out of the bullpen and struck out Wesley Zapata to end the contest at 2-1 as the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels held off the Bradenton Marauders late comeback attempt on Sunday afternoon at Hammond Stadium.

Fort Myers plated a pair of runs in Scott Randall’s (0-1) first Minor League rehab start with the Marauders. After a scoreless first inning, Payton Eeles and Maddux Houghton singled to begin the second. After a Gregory Duran groundout, a sacrifice fly from Yohander Martinez scored Eeles to give the Mussels a 1-0 advantage.

In the third, Brooks Lee tallied a one-out double and advanced to third base on a bloop single from Jair Camargo. Lee then scored on a groundout from Poncho Ruiz to double the Fort Myers lead at 2-0.

Neither side scored again until the top of the ninth. Aaron Holiday entered in for Ben Ethridge (2-1) and struck out the first batter of the inning. Braylon Bishop pinch ran for Axiel Plaz after he reached first on a dropped catch error by Duran. Holiday induced a popout before Esmerlyn Valdez doubled down the right field line to score Bishop and cut the deficit to 2-1. Solomon Maguire reached on an error and Javier Rivas walked to load the bases with two outs. Noble then entered and struck out Zapata to end the game.

Out of the bullpen, Garrett McMillan hurled a scoreless fourth inning before Connor Oliver tossed three scoreless afterwards. Mike Walsh and Tyler Kennedy combined for a scoreless eighth to end the day.

McMillan extended his scoreless innings streak to 8.2 frames with his outing on Sunday. Kalae Harrison paced the offense, reaching base three times with a pair of singles and a walk.

After an off day on Monday, the Marauders return home to LECOM Park on Tuesday afternoon to begin a six-game series against the Clearwater Threshers. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 6:10 p.m. on the Marauders Broadcast Network.