Crafty Baserunning, Timely Hitting Seal Marauders Win
BRADENTON, Fla. — Marauders bats provided early run support Saturday night, and the bullpen staved off a late Fort Myers comeback threat in a 7-2 Bradenton win at LECOM Park. Jasiah Dixon opened the scoring for the Marauders (2-3) with a first-inning RBI-single and went on to steal second and
BRADENTON, Fla. — Marauders bats provided early run support Saturday night, and the bullpen staved off a late Fort Myers comeback threat in a 7-2 Bradenton win at LECOM Park.
Jasiah Dixon opened the scoring for the Marauders (2-3) with a first-inning RBI-single and went on to steal second and third base. In the second inning, Norkis Marcos singled and later scored from third on an errant pickoff throw by Mighty Mussels starter Steven Cruz (0-1), and Endy Rodriguez added a two-run single in the fourth inning for a 4-0 Marauders lead.
Marauders starter Jose Maldonado struck out six batters over three scoreless innings, retiring nine of the 10 batters he faced before yielding to Eddy Yean (1-1), who provided two innings of scoreless relief.
Bradenton stretched its lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth when Dixon led off with an infield single, stole second base, took third on a Hudson Head infield single and scored on a wild pitch.
In addition to Dixon, Rodriguez, Claudio Finol, Hudson Head, and Norkis Marcos all stole at least one base for the Marauders for a season-high eight steals in the game. Dixon’s three stolen bases made the outfielder the first Marauders player to steal three bases in a game since Alfredo Reyes did so on June 29, 2017 against Dunedin.
The Mighty Mussels (3-2) struck back in the seventh when Willie Joe Garry Jr. hit a two-run homer just inside the right-field foul pole off right-hander Cameron Junker, making his Marauders debut. In the eighth inning, however, Dariel Lopez delivered an RBI-single for Bradenton, and Endy Rodriguez scored from third on a third-strike wild pitch that saw Jase Bowen beat out catcher Kyle Schmidt’s throw to first base.
With a 7-2 lead in hand, left-hander Denny Roman, who had entered in the seventh inning, encountered trouble in the ninth for the Marauders. In between outs, Fort Myers loaded the bases on a single and two walks. But Roman struck out Schmidt swinging to escape the jam and seal the victory.
The series concludes on Sunday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. at LECOM Park. RHP Adrian Florencio is scheduled to start for the Marauders against Mighty Mussels RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long.