FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Pruitt Leads 'Crabs to 6-2 Triumph

Published on July 12, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


VIERA, FL - Four game series on the road are tough because it can be quite hard to gather momentum, but the Stone Crabs had no problem against the Manatees on Friday night. Austin Pruitt weathered the storm early while the offense carried him to a season best seven scoreless innings, and the `Crabs won their second straight game with a resounding 6-2 victory in front of a crowd of 1,777 at Space Coast Stadium.

Both Pruitt and Manatees starter Chad Pierce looked shaky at first while adjusting to the narrow strike zone of home plate umpire Matt Winter. Tommy Coyle opened the ballgame with a single before stealing second, and he'd quickly score on Justin O'Conner's two out single into right center to make it 1-0. Pruitt nearly crumbled in the bottom of the inning after securing the first two outs, but a pair of singles and a four pitch walk to Cameron Garfield loaded the bases for Victor Roache. The fifth best prospect in the Brewers organization sent a hard chopper that surprised Leonardo Reginatto at short, but he recovered to feed Coyle at second to retire the side.

Ariel Soriano snuck a double down the left field line with two outs in the second, bringing up the bottom of the order and Julian Ridings. Pierce hung a 1-2 curveball, which the right fielder promptly deposited over the right field wall to put the Stone Crabs on top 3-0. Pruitt surrendered three more singles in the second, and the Manatees reloaded the bases with one out for Orlando Arcia. The talented shortstop bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, and Pruitt wouldn't give much more over his final five innings.

Three singles in the top of the third, including the final one by Tyler Goeddel, brought in another run to extend the `Crabs lead to 4-0. Pierce then hit Granden Goetzman with an 0-2 fastball to load them up, but he retired Soriano and Ridings to end the threat. Coyle later led off the fourth with a hard double down the right field line for his second three-hit game in as many nights. A groundout by Reginatto moved him to third and allowed Patrick Leonard to drive a sacrifice fly into right to make it 5-0.

Charlotte's final run came in the seventh off lefthander Michael Strong, who had already thrown two perfect innings in relief of Pierce (2-5). Following a leadoff double by Reginatto, O'Conner sent a grounder to the shortstop Arcia with one out. He threw back to second to try and get Reginatto in a rundown, but the throw sailed behind second baseman Nathan Orf and into shallow right field, which resulted in another run and a 6-0 lead.

Over his final five innings, Pruitt only allowed a pair of singles to Roache in the fourth and sixth, and a leadoff walk to Alfredo Rodriguez in the seventh. Brandon Macias then bounced into a 6-4-3 double play before Pruitt (5-4) fanned Orf in his longest start of the season. The Manatees added a pair of runs off Parker Markel in the eighth, but he'd retire the side in order in the ninth to end the night.

The `Crabs will go for their third straight win on Saturday night at 6:35 PM when Reinaldo Lopez (4-4, 3.97 ERA) looks to get back on track against the Manatees Hobbs Johnson (9-6, 3.23 ERA). 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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Florida State League Stories from July 12, 2014


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