Jones, Gonzalez Whiff 18 in Marauders Win

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Marauders built an early lead behind a stellar two-man pitching performance in an 8-1 win over the Jupiter Hammerheads on Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park.

Jared Jones struck out 11 over four scoreless innings in just his sixth career appearance, the highest single-game strikeout total by any Marauders pitcher this season. He combined with fellow right-hander Domingo Gonzalez (2-3) for 18 strikeouts, the most in a nine-inning game in team history.

Norkis Marcos put the Marauders (32-16) on the board in the second inning with an RBI-single to right field. In the third, Bradenton loaded the bases against Jupiter’s Matt Givin (1-5) with none out. Ernny Ordonez hit a dribbler in front of home plate, and as catcher Brian Navaretto fielded the ball and attempted to dive toward home plate, Sammy Siani slid in safely with Bradenton’s second run. Alexander Mojica followed with a sacrifice fly to center field for a 3-0 Marauders advantage.

Jones, finished after four innings, allowed just two hits and one walk. Eleven of Jones’ 12 outs recorded came via strikeout; the only exception came when Navarreto doubled in the second inning and was thrown out by catcher Eli Wilson while attempting to advance to third on a pitch in the dirt.

Bradenton would add four more runs in the fifth inning on an Ordonez RBI-double, a two-run single by Mojica, and a fielder’s choice grounder by Norkis Marcos. They plated their final run, for an 8-0 lead, in the eighth on a fielding error by Jupiter shortstop Dalvy Rosario, the Hammerheads’ third error of the game.

Gonzalez took over as the piggyback starter behind Jones to begin the fifth inning, working around a leadoff walk for a scoreless frame. Following the walk, Gonzalez went on to retire 13 of the next 14 batters until Hammerheads (22-26) designated hitter Cameron Barstad hit a solo homer to right field with two outs in the ninth inning, spoiling the shutout. But after a walk to Navarreto, Gonzalez recovered to get a game-ending fielder’s choice grounder to shortstop Maikol Escotto.

Seven of the nine batters in the Marauders’ lineup collected hits, and the five-games-to-one series win gave Bradenton a win in nine of their last 11 games.

The Marauders will travel to Fort Myers on Tuesday to open a six-game series against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hammond Stadium. Both teams have yet to announce their starting pitchers.