Marauders-Tortugas Split Doubleheader on Saturday Night

DAYTONA BEACH, FL —After the Bradenton Marauders outlasted the Daytona Tortugas 10-5 in the continuation of a suspended game, the Tortugas walked-off the Marauders 5-4 in seven-innings on Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Both sides resumed a suspended seven-inning game from Friday night with the Marauders ahead 6-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Connor Oliver (1-8) entered out of the bullpen and allowed a leadoff single to Carlos Sanchez who stole second base and scored on a dropped third strike throwing error to Diego Omana. Omana scored on a Yerlin Confidan groundout to trim the deficit to 6-4. The innings final run also scored on a groundout by Ariel Almonte.

After both sides were kept off the scoreboard in the fifth, Bradenton plated four runs in the sixth with the Marauders sending 10 men to the plate. The inning was highlighted by an Esmerlyn Valdez RBI single with two runs scoring on a pair of errors and another on a stolen base of home by Braylon Bishop to push it to a 10-5 ballgame. Oliver allowed a two-out single in the seventh but struck out Esmith Pineda to end the game. The southpaw racked up six strikeouts in four innings out of the bullpen to earn his first professional win.

In game two, both sides were held scoreless until the third. Jose Montero retired two of the first three, issuing a one-out walk to Jhonny Severino. After another walk to Esmerlyn Valdez, Ryan McCrystal attempted a pickoff attempt at first that sailed down the first base line and scored Severino from second to push the Marauders ahead 1-0. Valdez moved to second on the error, third on a wild pitch, and scored on an Ethan Lege single to double the Bradenton lead.

Daytona responded right away in the bottom of the frame against Khristian Curtis. Eddy Isturiz blooped a ball to left field that skipped past Bishop and to the wall with Isturiz racing around the bases to score on an inside-the-park home run to cut the lead to 2-1. In four innings, Curtis struck out six and walked just two, earning a no-decision.

Greiber Mendez retired the first five he faced before allowing a two-out walk to Ariel Almonte. The next batter, Jack Moss, scored Almonte on an error on Bishop again in left field to tie the game.

The tie didn’t last long with Bradenton plating two in the top of the seventh against Luke Hayden (1-0). Derek Berg singled and Bishop walked to start the frame. After the first wild pitch moved both runners to second and third, Hayden threw another to score Berg and give the lead back to Bradenton at 3-2. A sacrifice fly from Severino plated Bishop to provide some more insurance at 4-2.

Hunter Furtado (3-5) entered out of the bullpen and walked the first two batters. Isturiz hit a fly ball to the warning track in centerfield that was dropped by Shalin Polanco to score the first run and cut the lead to one. With runners at second and third base, Kyle Henley grounded out to tie the game before the winning run scored on Peyton Stovall sacrifice fly to walk-off the Marauders 5-4.

The Marauders wrap up their 2024 Florida State League season schedule on Sunday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 pm with pre-game coverage beginning at 4:40 pm on the Marauders Broadcast Network.