Dominguez Homers in FSL Debut as Mussels Fall to Flying Tigers 5-2
FSL Fort Myers Mighty Mussels

Dominguez Homers in FSL Debut as Mussels Fall to Flying Tigers 5-2

Published on April 17, 2026 under Florida State League (FSL)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release


FORT MYERS, Fla. - The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels were defeated by the Lakeland Flying Tigers 5-2 on Friday night at the Lee Health Sports Complex.

Triple-A rehabber Cory Lewis (shoulder) made his first appearance of 2026, and the Lakeland (9-4) offense got to him early. After a leadoff groundout, four consecutive Flying Tigers reached against Lewis, resulting in two runs.

Lewis would only record one out, and was replaced by fellow rehabber Kyle Bischoff, who is with the Mussels (8-5) on assignment from Double-A.

Bischoff escaped the jam, aided by a stellar play by Ramiro Dominguez. With the infield drawn in, Dominguez fielded a tough ground ball and made a throw on the move to cut down a runner at home.

Fort Myers would go to originally scheduled starter Merit Jones (0-1) with two outs in the second inning. Jones struck out the only batter he faced in the inning.

The Mighty Mussels would strike back in the bottom half of the frame, as Eduardo Beltre hit his third home run of the season off of Cale Wetwiska (1-0) to cut the deficit in half. The ball left Beltre's bat at 104.1 mph.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Dominguez would tie the game with his first home run at the Single-A level. The game was tied after four innings, 2-2.

Lakeland's Zach MacDonald punched back in the top half of the fifth inning, with a solo home run hit at 111.4 mph off of Jones to give Lakeland a 3-2 advantage. MacDonald has homered in three consecutive games in this series.

Jones allowed just a single run across 4.1 innings while racking up five strikeouts.

Xavier Kolhosser took over for Jones in the seventh inning and struck out two. After a scoreless eighth inning, Kolhosser surrendered a two-run home run to Lakeland catcher Sergio Tapia in the top of the ninth, extending the Flying Tigers lead to 5-2.

Fort Myers brought the tying run to the plate but did not score in the bottom of the ninth against Donye Evans (S1) as Lakeland tied the series at two games apiece.

The Mussels' offense had the leadoff runner reach base six times tonight, and only scored that runner once, on Beltre's home run. Fort Myers went 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

The series continues on Saturday, April 18. Reed Moring (1-0, 0.00) starts for the Mussels, opposite Caleb Leys (0-1, 11.57) who starts for Lakeland. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 5:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.

Check out the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels Statistics

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Florida State League Stories from April 17, 2026


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