FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

'Cards Win Another One Run Game to Take Series

Published on August 14, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - Jared Sandberg had a simple message for his team in preparation for Thursday night's deciding game against the `Cardinals: "Go out and win this series." With the elimination number shrinking, the Stone Crabs could have easily taken all three from Palm Beach. Instead, the Cardinals followed up their 7-6 victory in game one with a 5-4 win before a crowd of 1,122 at Charlotte Sports Park.

Both starters and ninth round picks from the 2013 draft, Austin Pruitt and Nick Petree, breezed through the first inning. In a surprising twist, Pruitt then opened the second with a pair of walks to Luke Voit and Anthony Garcia. David Washington's opposite field single into left loaded the bases with nobody out, giving Mason Katz and Jimmy Bosco a chance to drive in two runs with a couple of groundouts. Amazingly, Pruitt (9-5) didn't allow another hit across seven, and his only baserunner for the remainder of the evening was a walk to Nick Martini to start the sixth.

A major event occurred in the bottom of the sixth once Jonathan Quionez bashed a single on the first pitch from Petree. The next offering to Tommy Coyle was rocketed to third, where Bruce Caldwell reached up to make the catch before throwing back to first for a crucial double play. With the bases cleared, Johnny Field launched his second homer of the series over the wall in left to get the `Crabs within a run at 2-1. Had Quionez gotten back to first safely, the game would have been tied, but it wasn't meant to be.

Both sides erupted for three runs in the eighth inning as the bullpens struggled. First up was Zach Cooper, whose walk to Bosco preceded a sacrifice bunt from Dante Rosenberg. A wild pitch moved the runner to third, and with two outs Ildemaro Vargas hit a high chopper over the mound that Cooper dropped off the heel of his mitt for an infield single and a 3-1 Cardinals lead. A walk to Bruce Caldwell, a run scoring single by Luke Voit, and a passed ball scored another run to give Palm Beach a commanding 5-1 advantage.

Charlotte answered swiftly against Corey Baker in the home half once Coyle singled and Field was hit by the first pitch he saw. Patrick Leonard's two out single into left center scored Coyle to make it 5-2. Tyler Goeddel then took over and ripped a 1-2 pitch into the left field corner for a two-run double that got the Stone Crabs within a run at 5-4. A walk to Granden Goetzman spelled the end of the road for Baker, who handed off to Tuesday night's winner Chris Perry. A wild pitch got Goeddel to third as the tying run, but the righty struck out Soriano to squash the comeback effort. In the ninth, Perry picked up his fifth save by striking out the side and trimming the Stone Crabs magic number down to 11.

The Stone Crabs head to Roger Dean Stadium for the final time during the regular season to start a weekend series with the Jupiter Hammerheads on Friday night at 6:35 PM. You can follow all the action by listening to the game on www.stonecrabsbaseball.com via TuneIn Radio, or tuning into 91.7 FM-WVIJ in the Port Charlotte area. The Stone Crabs Pregame Show starts at 6:15 PM on the Stone Crabs Radio Network!

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