Cavaco’s heroics not enough in 11-inning loss to Daytona

FORT MYERS, Fla. (July 23, 2021) – Keoni Cavaco’s ninth inning heroics proved futile Friday night at Hammond Stadium, as the Daytona Tortugas rallied in the eleventh inning to win 7-5.

With the Mighty Mussels (38-32) trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Willie Joe Garry Jr. drew a one-out walk before Misael Urbina advanced him to third on a single to right.

With two on and one out, Cavaco lined a ball into left. Daytona (33-37) left fielder Ranser Amador charged in and dove for the ball but missed it. It skipped by him and rolled all the way to the fence, allowing two runs to score and tie the game 5-5.

Neither team scored in the tenth, but the Tortugas got back-to-back triples from Garrett Wolforth and Brandon Leyton to take a 7-5 lead in the eleventh.

Mighty Mussels starting pitcher Landon Leach went four innings in his Fort Myers debut. The Twins’ second round pick in 2017 allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits while fanning four. Brad Hanner and Carlos Suniaga (2-2) combined to strike out nine over six innings of relief, but allowed three runs combined.

The Mighty Mussels’ batters struck out 19 times Friday, four more times than their previous season high.

Fort Myers trailed 2-0 in the second inning before Will Holland and Charles Mack both walked to start the inning. The next batter was Jesus Feliz, who ripped a base hit to left to score Holland and cut the deficit to 2-1. Two batters later, Mack came racing home on a foul out by Urbina to tie the game 2-2.

With the game still tied in the bottom of the fourth, Mack and Feliz both singled with one out before Garry Jr. walked to load the bases. Daytona starter Miguel Medrano then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Mack to score and give Fort Myers a 3-2 lead. After a hit by pitch chased Medrano, reliever Juan Abriel struck out back-to-back Mussels to keep the score at 3-2.

The Fort Myers’ bats went quiet after that, failing to pick up a hit over the next four innings.

With the series tied 2-2, the Mighty Mussels turn to Orlando Rodriguez (1-0, 1.29) to try and clinch a split on Saturday. The Tortugas counter with Bryce Bonnin (1-0, 2.08). Coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.