Noble's Strong Debut Not Enough in 6-4 Loss to Lakeland
July 1, 2023 - Florida State League (FSL)
Fort Myers Mighty Mussels News Release
FORT MYERS, Fla. - Despite a solid start from Jack Noble and four unanswered runs late, the Mighty Mussels fell to the Lakeland Flying Tigers 6-4 at Hammond Stadium Saturday.
In his Low-A debut, Noble (0-1) allowed two earned runs and two hits while fanning one batter over five innings of work.
With no score in the top of the third, J.D. McLaughlin singled and Alvaro Gonzalez walked to place runners at first and second. The next hitter was Seth Stephenson, who dropped a bunt down the third base line. On the play, Rubel Cespedes's throw glanced off Gregory Duran's glove which allowed McLaughlin to score and both runners to advance to second and third. Luke Gold followed with a sacrifice fly to center to bring in Gonzalez and make it 2-0.
In the top of the sixth, Daniel Cabrera doubled and advanced to third on an error by right fielder Carson McCusker. After reliever Danny Moreno retired the next two hitters he faced, Mike Rothenberg hit a towering home run to center to give Lakeland (28-44, 2-5) a 4-0 lead.
With the same score in the top of the seventh, McLaughlin walked and Stephenson singled to place runners at the corners with one out. With Gold at the plate, Moreno balked and forced in another run to push the lead to 5-0. Later in the same plate appearance, Gold sent another sacrifice fly to center that extended the Flying Tigers' lead to 6-0.
In the bottom half of the same frame, Cespedes walked and McCusker singled to place runners on first and third. Francis Florentino then floated a sacrifice fly to left that scored Cespedes to give the Mussels (37-35, 3-4) their first run of the night. After Kyle Schmidt singled and Dylan Neuse walked to load the bases, Tigers' reliever Chris Mauloni hurled two wild pitches to plate two and cut the Mussels' deficit to 6-3.
An inning later, Danny De Andrade led off with a walk and advanced to third on a wild pitch and ground out. With two outs, Florentino scalded a grounder to left center that scored De Andrade to cap the scoring at 6-4.
Miguelangel Boades (0-2, 4.38) will get the start for Fort Myers tomorrow against Lakeland's Joe Miller (0-2,4.63). First pitch is set for 6:00 p.m. with coverage beginning at 5:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.
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