Clearwater, FL.--- It was a scrappy win for the Blue Jays as they had to make two comebacks throughout the game, but they pulled through in the end. After going behind early in the first two games of the series the Fire Frogs took control early thanks to a Drew
Clearwater, FL.--- It was a scrappy win for the Blue Jays as they had to make two comebacks throughout the game, but they pulled through in the end.
After going behind early in the first two games of the series the Fire Frogs took control early thanks to a Drew Lugbauer two-run home run off of Nick Allgeyer. The Fire Frogs weren't finished though as they kept the line moving by way of a couple of singles and a Trey Harris double to score Andrew Moritz. A sacrifice fly by Drew Lugbauer made it 4-0, and the Blue Jays would have a hill to climb to comeback.
In Blue Jays fashion this year, Dunedin turned things around in one inning with the whole lineup contributing. Two walks and a single by Cullen Large loaded the bases for Kacy Clemens, and he slapped a single into right field to cut the lead in half to 4-2. The Blue Jays took advantage of a Florida mistake when Drew Lugbauer misplayed a Ryan Noda hard hit grounder at first that scored Christopher Bec. Samad Taylor gave Dunedin the lead with a single over the shortstop driving in Kacy Clemens and Ryan Noda. The four-run deficit came and went, and the Blue Jays were in the driver's seat.
In the very next inning, the offense stayed hot to the tune of four more runs. Cullen Large drove in two more runs for Dunedin with a double well in the gap past Ender Inciarte. Large scored later in the inning off of a sacrifice fly to go ahead 8-4. The inning would wrap up with a Norberto Obeso sacrifice fly followed by a Ryan Noda fly out. Nick Allgeyer enjoyed the benefits of the run support as he finished the night giving up five earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts.
The Fire Frogs would not go down quietly as they kept pushing through the final three innings, chipping away at the lead. The Florida comeback of their own was capped in the 9th inning due to some timely hitting. Brad Wilson looked to get his ninth save of the year and his second six out save. The long outing took its toll in the end as the Fire Frogs drove in the tying runs with two outs in the 9th inning. Emerson Jimenez shut the door to keep the game tied, and there would need extra innings to decide the outcome.
The outcome didn't look good for Dunedin after a pop fly from Noda was dropped in right field to give Florida the lead. They tacked on one more off the bat of Andrew Moritz to make it a two-run game. Dunedin seemed to be out for the count but their resilience shined through again. Nick Podkul got a huge double down the left field line that got the contest within one run. Cal Stevenson stayed hot after extending his hitting streak to 17 games in the 1st inning, this time a double in the 10th tied the game back up. Cullen Large decided he had seen enough and finished the game with a single passed the shortstop, and Dunedin pulled out their 6th win in a row.
The Blue Jays will be in Lakeland for the 4th of July to take on the Flying Tigers with first pitch set for 5:00 PM.
