Morris Holds Tortugas at Bay in 6-2 Win
August 28, 2016 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Clearwater Threshers News Release
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Will Morris earned his ninth victory of the season on Saturday, limiting the Tortugas to just one run in 5.2 innings in a 6-2 victory over Daytona at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Clearwater (38-24) sits three games back of the Dunedin Blue Jays, who won their game 6-2 over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. Daytona (38-23) remains in second place, but drops to 2.5 games out.
The Threshers got the offense in gear in the second, when Josh Tobias greeted Jonathan Crawford (1-2) with a leadoff single.
Aaron Brown reached on an error by first baseman Brian O'Grady, before Crawford retired the next two batters without further advancement. Drew Stankiewicz worked a walk to load the bases, and Zach Coppola came through with a single up the middle to give Clearwater a 2-0 lead.
Brown was hit by a pitch to start the fourth inning, and Jiandido Tromp drew a walk. Malquin Canelo put down a sacrifice bunt to move both into scoring position, and Stankiewicz came through with a hard single to right to bring home Brown.
Coppola bounced an infield hit past the pitcher Crawford, scoring Tromp to earn his third RBI of the night and make it 4-0. Carlos Tocci followed with a sacrifice fly to left, pushing home Stankiewicz with Clearwater's fifth run.
Daytona went to the bullpen and called in Nolan Becker. After Becker fell behind 3-1, Chace Numata singled to center to score Coppola and give the Threshers a 6-0 lead.
Morris (9-3) kept the Tortugas off the board through the front five. The lone run off him came in the sixth on a Gavin LaValley RBI single.
Tom Windle took over with a man on and two outs in the sixth, and struck out O'Grady on a slider to end the frame. Windle proceeded to strike out the first two he faced in the seventh as well, before inducing a popout to first to end the inning.
LaValley's homer in the eighth brought it to 6-2 before Daytona put a pair on in the ninth, but Matt Hockenberry struck out Blake Trahan to end the ballgame and finish off the 6-2 victory.
The Threshers will battle Daytona for the final time this season on Sunday, with first pitch at 5:35 p.m. Drew Anderson (2-1) takes the hill opposed by Jose Lopez (0-2), and the game will be broadcast live on threshersbaseball.com and the TuneIn app starting at 5:20 p.m.
• Discuss this story on the Florida State League message board...
Florida State League Stories from August 28, 2016
- Tromp the Hero as Threshers Surpass Tortugas, Win 6-5 - Clearwater Threshers
- Mets Win Suspended Game, Fall to Cardinals in Game 2 - St. Lucie Mets
- Miracle Avoid Sweep, Defeat Jupiter, 5-1 - Fort Myers Mighty Mussels
- Captains Game Notes & Lineups - Brevard County Manatees
- Morris Holds Tortugas at Bay in 6-2 Win - Clearwater Threshers
- Morris Holds Tortugas at Bay in 6-2 Win - Clearwater Threshers
- Carley Earns 1st Win as T-Yanks Beat 'Tees, - Tampa Yankees
- Fisk Earns 10th Win with McBroom's 21st Bomb - Dunedin Blue Jays
- Fisk Earns 10th Win with McBroom's 21st Bomb - Dunedin Blue Jays
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.
