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FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Hammerheads Take Opener 3-1

August 21, 2015 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (August 20, 2015) - Michael Johns could not believe his team finished 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position at a time when they've been hard pressed to score runs. But that was the reality in Thursday night's opener against the Jupiter Hammerheads in a battle between the bottom two teams in the South Division. With one team's losing streak having to come to an end, the Hammerheads capitalized on two errors in the ninth to pull away late for a 3-1 victory in front of 1,057 at Charlotte Sports Park.

One of the bright spots for Charlotte amidst a tough second half slide has been the emergence of Brent Honeywell. In his last start six days earlier in Bradenton, it was Honeywell who led the Stone Crabs to a 3-1 win that snapped an 11-game losing streak. Although he wasn't exactly dominant against the Hammerheads, he worked through the first three innings by pitching through a one out single in all three. Early on, Jupiter left chances on the table by leaving each runner in scoring position for the first three innings.

In the first inning against lefthander Ben Holmes, the 'Crabs got a two out single from Willy Adames and a walk to Granden Goetzman before a wild pitch put both runners in scoring position. Maxx Tissenbaum then worked the count full before taking a called third strike on the outside corner for the final out. In the third, Adames drove his second single back up the middle and stole second base for Goetzman. But the burly left fielder popped out to first baseman Felix Munoz for the final out.

Pat Blair pulled a grounder to third with one out in the fourth, reaching on a high throw from Brian Anderson, who initially made a nice pick. Jace Conrad then bounced a single into right, and Blair got to third for Armando Araiza. After misfiring on two bunt attempts, Araiza went down swinging for the second out. Conrad soon stole second with Braxton Lee batting, and a lineout to Blake Barber in left retired the side.

The game remained scoreless until the sixth, when Honeywell lost a stretch of nine straight set down when he walked Avery Romero with one out. Austin Dean sent a slow roller to second to put Romero at second base, and Anderson broke the tie with a hard single into left for his 58th run batted in. In the bottom half, Goetzman slapped a single into right and got to second when Tissenbaum's grounder was thrown away by second baseman James Roberts. A five pitch walk to Blair loaded the bases with no outs, and Conrad lined into a double play at second with Tissenbaum straying too far off the bag. Victor Araujo came in with runners at the corners and fired a wild pitch to bring home the tying run, but got Araiza to ground out to second to end the inning.

Facing Tyler Kinley in the seventh, the Hammerheads usual closer walked Lee before plunking Hector Guevara to put the first two on. On his 20th birthday, right fielder Justin Williams rolled into a 6-4-3 double play to put Lee at third base. Adames went down swinging for the final out, as another opportunity went away. In the eighth, Goetzman led off with a double down the right field line and tagged to third on Tissenbaum's flyout to deep right. Yet Kinley struck again with a pair of strikeouts to keep the game tied at one for the ninth inning.

In his third inning of relief, Mike Franco surrendered a leadoff single to Munoz, who then got to third on a sacrifice bunt and a throwing error from Guevara at second. Barber's sharp single into left gave the visitors a 2-1 lead, and he'd soon score the final run after Rodrigo Vigil's groundball skipped by Blair for an error at first base. The Stone Crabs went quickly in the ninth against C.J. Robinson, who converted his third save to snap the Hammerheads three-game losing strea.

The series continues on Friday night at 7:00 PM when German Marquez (6-11, 3.49 ERA) takes on Jeff Brigham (1-1, 3.45 ERA) in the middle game of the series. When gates open, enjoy FREE draft beer at the Tiki Bar until the end of the 1st inning with the purchase of a SPECIAL $15 ticket. Tickets are still available, so visit www.stonecrabsbaseball.com or call 941-206-HITS (4487) to order your tickets now!

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