Walk-Off Winner! Marauders Prevail in 10th over Dunedin

BRADENTON, Fla. — After three innings of a tied score, Ernny Ordonez delivered a walk-off RBI-single in the bottom of the 10th inning for a 4-3 Marauders win over the Dunedin Blue Jays on Wednesday night at LECOM Park.

With extra-inning runner Endy Rodriguez on second base, Ordonez wasted no time in lacing the game-winning hit, leading off the inning by lining a 1-1 pitch from Dunedin (32-41) reliever Julian Valdez (1-4) into left-center field to score Rodriguez ahead of the throw from the outfield for the Marauders (44-29) victory.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Bradenton and was the club’s fourth walk-off win of the season. Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with two walks, extending his hitting streak to 11 games and his on-base streak to 23 games.

The Blue Jays scored the game’s first run in the first inning, as Dasan Brown led off by reaching on a throwing error by Marauders third baseman Alexander Mojica. Brown then stole second base and scored on a single by Zach Britton. The following batter, Miguel Hiraldo, nailed a double to deep center field. Britton attempted to score on the play, but center fielder Hudson Head recovered the ball and threw to second baseman Dariel Lopez, who fired home to catcher Eli Wilson for the out on a sliding Britton.

Marauders starter Luis Ortiz rebounded from his 26-pitch first inning to hold Dunedin scoreless over his next four innings, matching his career-high with nine strikeouts. His teammates, meanwhile, took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Lopez delivered a game-tying RBI-single, and Ordonez followed with a groundball to first baseman PK Morris, who threw to second base to begin a double play attempt. The return throw, however, was off-line, allowing Head to score the go-ahead run from third base and Lopez raced home behind him.

But as Ortiz maintained the lead after five innings, right-hander Wandi Montout struggled in relief to begin the sixth, allowing three straight singles to begin the inning, loading the bases. Harry Ray followed with a grounder to Mojica at third base, who threw home to start a double play, but threw errantly, allowing two runs to score, tying the game at 3-3. Montout remarkably escaped the inning after the miscue, inducing a popout to Wilson behind the plate and striking out the next two batters, stranding two runners in scoring position to keep the game tied.

Montout held the Blue Jays scoreless over the next two innings, dueling with relievers Jol Concepcion and Rafael Monsion, who provided the same for Dunedin.

The Marauders appeared to be on the brink of a breakthrough in both the seventh and eight innings, but left the go-ahead run in scoring position in both instances.

Enmanuel Mejia (4-1) retired all six batters he faced for the Marauders, tossing a clean ninth and retiring three straight in the top of the 10th to strand the extra-inning runner, keeping the tie game intact leading into the bottom of the 10th.

The series continues Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. The Marauders have yet to announce their starting pitcher against Dunedin’s RHP Sem Robberse.

For more information about the Bradenton Marauders, please call (941) 747-3031, visit BradentonMarauders.com, or email [email protected].