Marauders Put on Show in Shutout Victory
Bradenton, Fla. — The Marauders (24-20) and the Hammerheads (24-20) squared off at LECOM Park on Military Appreciation night with around 2,000 fans packed into the oldest stadium in all of affiliated baseball. Bradenton scored early and never looked back as the offense got off to a hot start and
Bradenton, Fla. — The Marauders (24-20) and the Hammerheads (24-20) squared off at LECOM Park on Military Appreciation night with around 2,000 fans packed into the oldest stadium in all of affiliated baseball. Bradenton scored early and never looked back as the offense got off to a hot start and let the pitching staff take care of the rest on the way to a comprehensive 9-0 triumph.
Bradenton gave the starting nod to Wilber Dotel, making his first start after over a month spent on the injured list. The righty ended his day after tossing two shutout innings while striking out two of the eight men he faced.
The Young Bucs hung three runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning that started with a knock and a pair of walks to load the bases with no outs. Shalin Polanco stepped up and drilled a liner to centerfield to push two men across with still no outs in the inning. Rodolfo Nolasco grounded out but brought a run into score later in the frame to make it 3-0 after one in favor of the hometown boys.
The third inning saw the men in black and yellow score three more runs to separate themselves from Jupiter truly. Alexander Mojica and Geovanny Planchart grabbed RBI in the inning, scoring another run on an error to give Bradenton a 6-0 lead.
The third inning also saw the first of what would become six shutout innings on the mound for Derek Diamond; the right-hander struck out six, walked none, and allowed only four base runners on the night in an outing that saw him claim his third win of the season.
In the fourth, Jack Brannigan tripled and scored on a wild pitch; the following inning Deivis Nadal crushed a solo home run to right, his fourth big fly of the season. The Marauders got their ninth and final run in the bottom of the seventh when Planchart singled to bring a runner home for the second time in the contest.
Blake Cederlind hurled a perfect top of the ninth, striking out the final two men in the game to finish the game in fine style by a score 9-0.
The Marauders will look to close out the series on Sunday afternoon, with Dominic Perachi expected to start for the home side.