ports Marauders Struggling Near FSL Basement

BRADENTON – The 40-11 St. Lucie Mets have opened up a big lead on the entire FSL South, 16 games up on Jupiter and Palm Beach who are tied for second. After a 5-5 run, the Bradenton Marauders are still playing sub-500 ball and only the hapless Ft. Myers Miracle (.392 winning percentage) are keeping the club out of the basement. Still, there are some signs of life on both offense and defense as Bradenton seems capable of putting together a strong run, should the team start firing on all cylinders.

Pitcher Eliecer Navarro photo: Craig Jorgensen

SS Gift Ngope photo: Craig Jorgensen

The last week has been something of a rollercoaster. After a three game losing streak, the Marauders were able to turn it around with a combination of batting and pitching. Gerrit Cole got the victory against the Fort Myers Miracle in Tuesday night’s 5-4 battle. The game was in the bag when he stepped off the mound with a three-run lead.

Cole pitched six innings and gave up two runs, while gathering four strikeouts. The Marauders’ hitting is noticeably improving as well. Tuesday night, May 29, the team collectively went three for seven with runners in scoring position, while during Sunday’s loss, the Marauders went two for nine with guys ready to score. This victory is just another sign of improvement, as the team recovers from a sweep by the Jupiter Hammerheads.

The Marauders collected four wins during their eight-game home stand against Lakeland and Dunedin last week. With their heads held high, the club went on the road to face Jupiter in a three game series. However, a multitude of things went wrong during this three game sweep.

The starting pitchers gave up a total of 15 runs in 3 games, and that’s not counting the bullpen. The batting wasn’t doing anything to help the pitching staff either, as the team was not able to get on base with runners in scoring position. The team had an extremely low .160 average in that department.

Hopefully the pitching staff can continue to their consistency, as the team moves closer to the end of the season. Once the bats get in order, who knows what could happen.

The club wraps up their series with Ft. Myers tonight at McKechnie, in a 6:30 start, before heading out on an 8-game road trip that starts with four games at Brevard and concludes with four against the Daytona Cubs. Tonight's game is another Thirsty Thursday promotion, featuring $1 sodas and select draft beers.