Win Streak Continues With 16th Inning Walk-Off
Longest FSL game of the season ends on error
After more than four and a half hours, 16 innings, two stretches and eight trips to the plate for the leadoff batters, Miguel Fermin scored on an error to give Jupiter a 5-4 win over Charlotte.
The teams had traded scoreless frames throughout the extra innings until the Hammerheads - perhaps spurred on by the unorthodox 16th Inning Stretch by the dozens of fans still in attendance - mounted their final rally. Catcher Taylor Krick led off the frame with a walk, and Miguel Fermin came on to replace him as a pinch runner. The move paid off, as Fermin advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. In scoring position, Fermin was able to take advantage when Jeremy Synan's potential double play ball was thrown wide of first by second baseman Tyler Bortnick.
Fermin crossed the plate and was enveloped by a swarm of Hammerheads players, celebrating the extension of their longest winning streak of the season, now at five games. With the win, Jupiter moved to 14-13, above .500 for the first time all season after starting in an 0-6 hole.
None of it would have been possible without the 9th inning heroics at the bottom of the order. Chase Austin led off what looked to be the game's final half-inning with a double to center field. Danny Pertusati came on for Dallas Poulk and bunted Austin to third base, although the base hit by Krick that followed likely would have scored him anyway. The run tied the game at four runs apiece, and set the stage for the longest Florida State League game of the season.
Despite all the at-bats Jupiter racked up - 49 of them, plus 12 walks - only four players recorded hits. Krick's game-tying single was part of a 3-for-6 night, while Austin's double in the 9th turned out to be the first of two hits for the third baseman. Ernesto Manzanillo went 3-for-7, but the loudest hit of the night belonged to Kyle Jensen.
Down 3-0 in the 6th inning, walks by Krick and Synan preceded a blast by Jensen that easily cleared the left field wall to tie the game. The homer was Jensen's 8th of the year, which not only gives him the league lead but also ties Paul Gran's team-high mark from last season. What took Gran 94 games to do, Jensen has accomplished in 27.
Though a faded memory by the end of the night, Chad James started the game for Jupiter and set a season high with 8 strikeouts over six innings. The lefty allowed six hits and one walk, leading to three runs (two earned), all of which came in the 5th inning. Charlotte's Mayo Acosta hit a two-run homer to open the night's scoring, while James' own error let the inning continue, allowing two more singles to bring home a run.
There's no rest for the weary, as the two teams will end their series on Thursday morning. The 10:35 a.m. start will pick up just over 11 hours after Wednesday's game ended. Jupiter's Jose Alvarez will look to lead the team's second consecutive three-game sweep, opposed by Charlotte's Drew Leary.
The teams had traded scoreless frames throughout the extra innings until the Hammerheads - perhaps spurred on by the unorthodox 16th Inning Stretch by the dozens of fans still in attendance - mounted their final rally. Catcher Taylor Krick led off the frame with a walk, and Miguel Fermin came on to replace him as a pinch runner. The move paid off, as Fermin advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. In scoring position, Fermin was able to take advantage when Jeremy Synan's potential double play ball was thrown wide of first by second baseman Tyler Bortnick.
Fermin crossed the plate and was enveloped by a swarm of Hammerheads players, celebrating the extension of their longest winning streak of the season, now at five games. With the win, Jupiter moved to 14-13, above .500 for the first time all season after starting in an 0-6 hole.
None of it would have been possible without the 9th inning heroics at the bottom of the order. Chase Austin led off what looked to be the game's final half-inning with a double to center field. Danny Pertusati came on for Dallas Poulk and bunted Austin to third base, although the base hit by Krick that followed likely would have scored him anyway. The run tied the game at four runs apiece, and set the stage for the longest Florida State League game of the season.
Despite all the at-bats Jupiter racked up - 49 of them, plus 12 walks - only four players recorded hits. Krick's game-tying single was part of a 3-for-6 night, while Austin's double in the 9th turned out to be the first of two hits for the third baseman. Ernesto Manzanillo went 3-for-7, but the loudest hit of the night belonged to Kyle Jensen.
Down 3-0 in the 6th inning, walks by Krick and Synan preceded a blast by Jensen that easily cleared the left field wall to tie the game. The homer was Jensen's 8th of the year, which not only gives him the league lead but also ties Paul Gran's team-high mark from last season. What took Gran 94 games to do, Jensen has accomplished in 27.
Though a faded memory by the end of the night, Chad James started the game for Jupiter and set a season high with 8 strikeouts over six innings. The lefty allowed six hits and one walk, leading to three runs (two earned), all of which came in the 5th inning. Charlotte's Mayo Acosta hit a two-run homer to open the night's scoring, while James' own error let the inning continue, allowing two more singles to bring home a run.
There's no rest for the weary, as the two teams will end their series on Thursday morning. The 10:35 a.m. start will pick up just over 11 hours after Wednesday's game ended. Jupiter's Jose Alvarez will look to lead the team's second consecutive three-game sweep, opposed by Charlotte's Drew Leary.