FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs Slam Hammerheads

Published on June 5, 2015 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - After a tiring Wednesday night courtesy of a split doubleheader with the Miracle, the Stone Crabs had no choice but to get right back to work against the Hammerheads. Jupiter came to town as the hottest team in the league: winners of five straight, and suddenly tied for the second in the South Division. This was a much different team than the one that had taken four of the first six meetings from the Stone Crabs, which certainly upped the ante in the start of this three-game series. But Charlotte got a complete night from the offense and seven shutout innings from Buddy Borden as they rolled to a 7-2 win before a crowd of 1,426 at Charlotte Sports Park.

Things seemed to click in the second against lefthanded starter Chris Sadberry, whose first pitch to Jake Bauers was blooped just inside the left field line for a leadoff double. Granden Goetzman's slow roller to the right of second base was good for an infield single, and Maxx Tissenbaum blooped another shot into left for a 1-0 lead. Sadberry weathered the storm and got a double play ball off the bat of Armando Araiza following a strikeout of Yoel Araujo to take care of the side.

With Borden dealing easily, Carter Burgess drew a four pitch walk in his first at bat of 2015 to start the home third. Dayron Varona's second single and a sacrifice bunt from Kean Wong put a pair of runners in scoring position for Willy Adames, who collected his 24th run batted in with a slow groundout to third for a 2-0 lead.

In the fourth, a walk to Goetzman and two more singles from Tissenbaum and Araujo brought in another run to make it 3-0. Araiza's sacrifice bunt made it second and third with one out, but Sadberry got weak popups on the infield to escape yet another jam and keep the game close. However, Borden (6-2) got stronger as the game went along and allowed just a pair of singles from innings two through seven. He was as efficient as it gets, exiting after throwing just 84 pitches and not allowing a runner to advance past first.

Charlotte's biggest inning came in the sixth when Goetzman led off with a bouncing single back up the middle. Tissenbaum's third straight hit was a run scoring double over third base that gave him his second run batted in and made it 4-0. With two outs, Carter Burgess delivered a run scoring single of his own into center that scored Tissenbaum for a 5-0 lead. Sadberry (3-4) departed for former Tigers farmhand Alex Burgos, who promptly surrendered an RBI double down the left field line off the bat off Varona for his third of four hits.

Kirby Yates pitched the eighth for the `Crabs as he worked his way back from a strained right pectoral muscle. Displaying a mid-90s fastball, the Hawaiian flamethrower fanned Harold Riggins for the first out. Blake Barber hooked an 0-2 off speed pitch into left for just the fourth Hammerheads hit. Number nine hitter Chris Hoo hit a hard bouncer to third that was grabbed with a nice backhand by Burgess, but his throw to second base was offline for an error. At the top of the order, switch hitter Yefri Perez roped his first triple into left for a pair of runs that made it 6-2. Yates the returned to form and struck out Avery Romero before getting Austin Dean to fly out to right.

Charlotte's final run came in the bottom of the eighth, starting with a one out single into right by Burgess. Varona's single pushed Burgess to third, where he soon tagged up on Wong's deep flyout to center. With a fairly safe 7-2 lead, Jeff Ames got the final three outs in his most dominant appearance of the season. Felix Munoz ripped a one hopper to second for the first out, and Ames used a really sharp breaking ball to strike out Brian Anderson and Justin Bohn to give the Stone Crabs the opener.

The series continues on Friday night at 7:00 PM in a rematch of a May 20 pitcher's duel between Chris Kirsch (4-2, 2.44 ERA) and Hammerheads ace Scott Lyman (7-1, 1.50 ERA). 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. It's our School's Out Party presented by Drug Free Charlotte County, featuring the best fireworks show around immediately following the game! Tickets are still available, so visit www.stonecrabsbaseball.com or call 941-206-HITS (4487) to order your tickets now!

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Florida State League Stories from June 5, 2015


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