Threshers Fall in Finale, 4-1
April 25, 2015 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
LAKELAND, Fla. - Willians Astudillo extended his hitting streak to 14 consecutive games after a 2-for-4 performance on Saturday night, but Clearwater suffered its second-straight series loss in falling 4-1 to the Lakeland Flying Tigers.
David Whitehead (1-2) was solid in his first six innings, but was outdueled by Lakeland starter Kevin Ziomek (2-2).
Lakeland pushed across the game's first run in the opening frame, when Curt Powell doubled and Dominic Ficociello singled him home.
Former Thresher Jiwan James led off the third inning by lifting his second home run of the season out to right to make it 2-0 Lakeland.
Ziomek (2-2) shut the Clearwater offense down for six innings in the start, holding the Threshers to three hits and a walk while striking out six.
The Threshers (9-8) broke up the shutout in the seventh inning.
Down 2-0, Mitch Walding lined a one-out single to center off reliever Confessor Lara. Walding swiped second, his first steal of the season, and after Devin Lohman hit a soft liner to second, Walding would advance to third on a balk.
Chase Harris came through for Clearwater on a 2-2 pitch, lining a single to center to bring home Walding from third and cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Flying Tigers swung the momentum back in their favor in the bottom half. After Whitehead had faced the minimum on just 26 pitches the previous three innings, Ben Verlander opened the bottom of the seventh with an infield single to short.
With one out, Drew Longley homered off the batters' eye in center to make it 4-1 Lakeland.
Whitehead turned in the second-longest outing of the season for a Threshers starter, working 6.2 innings. He was charged with four runs on eight hits and two walks, while striking out six.
Clearwater will continue its six-game road swing on Sunday, as the Threshers open a three-game series with the Tampa Yankees beginning at 1 p.m. at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Brandon Leibrandt (1-0) gets the nod for the Threshers opposed by fellow-lefty Chaz Hebert (0-1). The call can be heard live on threshersbaseball.com beginning at 12:45 p.m.
• Discuss this story on the Florida State League message board...
Florida State League Stories from April 25, 2015
- Tampa Drops Finale to Daytona, 7-3 - Tampa Yankees
- Threshers Fall in Finale, 4-1 - Clearwater Threshers
- 'Crabs Sweep Cardinals with 4-0 Shutout - Charlotte Stone Crabs
- Mets Rally from 3 Down, Beat Miracle 4-3 in 11 - St. Lucie Mets
- Mets Win Second Extra Inning Walk-Off in a Row, 4-3 - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
- Hammerheads Hire Cantone as GM - Jupiter Hammerheads
- Mets Outlast Miracle in 17 Innings - St. Lucie Mets
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
