FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs Hold off Marauders for 14 Inning Win

Published on April 23, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (April 22, 2014) - Certain games may add a few more wrinkles to the forehead, and at times on Wednesday night, the Stone Crabs were basically replaying their game from April 13 against the Cardinals. In that afternoon matchup, Charlotte prevailed on Maxx Tissenbaum's RBI single in the bottom of the 14th after more than four hours on the field. This time, however, it was Justin O'Conner who was getting mobbed at first after sending his team home with a 3-2 victory in front of 1,757 at Charlotte Sports Park. The win was significant because it marked the first time the Stone Crabs had won two straight in the young season, albeit it took another 14 inning game to do so.

Coming off his first victory last Thursday night in Palm Beach, Bruedlin Suero was looking to continue the pitching staff's dominance from a night earlier in Bradenton. Yet that didn't stop the Marauders from seizing a 1-0 lead in the first after a one out single by shortstop Ashley Ponce and a two-out triple by Jose Osuna. After failing to capitalize upon putting the leadoff man on in the first two innings, the Stone Crabs finally broke through in the fourth.

Facing lefthander Orlando Castro, Tyler Goeddel and Leonardo Reginatto opened the inning with two straight doubles. Patrick Leonard's flyball to right scored Goeddel to tie things up before Marty Gantt lashed an RBI double off the center field wall for a 2-1 lead. But neither O'Connor nor second baseman Hector Guevara could hit the ball out of the infield, and the Stone Crabs held a 2-1 lead.

One of the main reasons the game dragged on as long as it did came immediately in the top of the sixth. Suero fooled switch-hitting right fielder Josh Bell to swing and miss for strike three, but the ball glanced off O'Conner and allowed Bell to take first. With nobody out, Osuna hit a double, and Suero's night was finished at five innings for the second straight start. Max Moroff then guided an infield single off Marcus Jensen to tie the game at two and keep runners at the corners with nobody out. Coming off his worst appearance and a loss last Friday night in Palm Beach, Jensen got Jin-De Jhang to pop out to Goeddel at third for the first out. The inning only got better for the Stone Crabs reliever, who induced an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Eric Wood to end the threat.

After Jensen fired three scoreless innings, Jose Molina surrendered a pair of one out singles to Wood and Jeff Roy in the top of the ninth. Raul Fortunato then grounded into a force out at second to push Wood to third, but leadoff batter Adam Frazier bounced out to short to end the inning. Charlotte's opportunity came later in the frame following a two out double by O'Conner down the left field line. Guevara got a little too anxious to end the game, and offered at the first pitch from Josh Smith for a flyout to right to send the game to extra innings.

Ryan Garton was the winning pitcher in the first 14-inning game against the Cardinals after throwing one scoreless inning before the Stone Crabs won it. On Wednesday night, he calmly pitched through the 12th and 13th before walking Wood on five pitches to open the 14th. A sacrifice bunt from Roy moved him to second, but he wouldn't get any further after Fortunato struck out and Frazier popped out to short to retire the side.

Tissenbaum's heroics on April 13 came against Cardinals first baseman Ildemaro Vargas, who moved to the mound in an attempt to save the bullpen. On Wednesday night it was Walker Gourley, who had started Monday night's game in left field for the Marauders, coming in as the sacrificial lamb. After a leadoff double by Reginatto and an infield single by Leonard, Gantt was unable to win it with a groundout to third. Gourley then worked ahead of O'Conner 0-2, but the Stone Crabs catcher reached out and rolled a groundball past the drawn in infield and into center field to win it 3-2.

NOTES: The game lasted 3 hours and 49 minutes, 18 minutes shorter than the April 13 gameJensen, Molina, and Garton (2-0) each threw three scoreless innings out of the bullpen, only allowing a combined five hits and two walksthe second run charged to Suero that tied the game in the fifth was unearned because of the dropped third strike by O'ConnerO'Conner had three hits for the second straight night and his average climbed to .262Andrew Toles finished 2-for-6 with a pair of singlesLeonard extended his team-leading hitting streak to eight games with that single in the 14th.

The Stone Crabs have an opportunity to take the series with a win at home on Thursday night at 6:30 PM. Austin Pruitt (0-1, 6.28 ERA) will look to build on a strong start his last time out against Bradenton righthander Jason Creasy

(1-0, 1.83 ERA). It's Realtors Night on Thirsty Thursday at Charlotte Sports Park, so come out and enjoy 12 oz domestic drafts for only $1! Domestic bottles can also be purchased at just $2 through the fifth inning! 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 6:10 PM on the Stone Crabs Radio Network!

Check out the Charlotte Stone Crabs Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Florida State League Stories from April 23, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central