Miracle Edge Out Marauders

FT. MYERS – A ninth inning rally by the Marauders (16-15) ended with the bases full as the Miracle (17-14) held on for a 3-2 win at Hammond Stadium on Monday night. Tyler Glasnow (L, 0-2) struck out six over five innings while allowing just two hits and one walk.

The Miracle scored in the first inning and never trailed. Levi Michael led off the game with an infield single against Glasnow. Aderling Mejia grounded into a 4-6 fielder’s choice and replaced Michael at first. Byron Buxton struck out swinging on a fastball off the plate away, but Mejia stole second base. After working the count full, Travis Harrison walked. Mike Gonzales tagged Glasnow for a double to left field, scoring both runners. The hits by Michael and Gonzales were the only two for Fort Myers in the game.

Bradenton allowed an unearned run in the third inning to extend the Fort Myers lead to 3-0. Michael grounded the first pitch of the inning to second base, reaching when Max Moroff mishandled the grounder. Michael promptly stole second base. Mejia put down a sacrifice bunt back towards the hill. Glasnow fell while fielding the ball, leading to an errant throw that allowed Michael to score from second base. Glasnow proceeded to strike out Buxton and Harrison to limit the damage to a single run. Mejia was the last batter to reach for Fort Myers. Jhondaniel Medina pitched two perfect innings and Pat Ludwig logged one clean frame.

Miracle starter Matt Tomshaw (W, 1-1) earned the victory but scattering six runs over six innings. He allowed one unearned run. Jonathan Schwind doubled with one out in the fourth, moved to third on a passed ball, and scored on Jeff Roy’s infield hit with two away. Tomshaw struck out two and did not walk a batter.

The Marauders didn’t put a man on in the fifth or sixth against Tomshaw. Mason Melotakis pitched perfect frames in the seventh and eighth, then retired the first batter of the ninth. Eric Wood broke up the run of great pitching with a double to right. Melotakis then walked Max Moroff on four pitches and allowed an infield hit to Jonathan Schwind to load the bases.

Madison Boer (S, 4) earned his fourth save by acquiring the final two outs. Boer induced a fly out to Buxton in left-centerfield off the bat of Jacob Stallings. Roy worked the count full and walked to bring home Wood and bring the Marauders within a run. Raul Fortunato stung a hard ground ball to second for a game-ending fielder’s choice.

Schwind finished the game with three hits in four tries. Roy recorded his first multi-RBI game.

The final game of the series is Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. at Hammond Stadium. Chad Kuhl will pitch for Bradenton against Brett Lee for Fort Myers. The game will be broadcast online at www.BradentonMarauders.com.

The box score for Monday's game can be seen here; the Play-by-Play review can be viewed here.

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