The Hammerheads win wild game in extra innings

*takes deep breathe*

The Jupiter Hammerheads win a wild, extra-inning affair against the St Lucie Mets after JD Orr delivers a walk-off single in the 11th inning. The Hammerheads now lead the series 3-1 after the 6-5 victory.

Offensively, the Hammerheads and the Mets each struck early. Victor Mesa Jr drove in his team-leading 27th RBI in the bottom of the first inning. However, St. Lucie quickly tied up the game after a Jupiter balk.

The next wave of offensive fireworks came in the fourth inning when Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium had to evacuate. In the middle of a Cameron Barstad at-bat, fire alarms blasted throughout the stadium. After a seven-minute delay, the culprit was found to be Barstad himself. On the pitch before the delay, the catcher hit a foul ball that connected with a fire alarm on the concourse. Everyone was safe and play quickly resumed.

The real offensive fireworks came in the ninth inning. With the game all tied up at one, the Mets put two runs on the board in the top of the frame. In the bottom half of the inning, the Hammerheads rallied and tied the ballgame at three. First, it was Thomas Rowan, who worked a full count and eventually walked in a run. Then a wild pitch from St Lucie allowed Angeudis Santos to cross home and tie the game up again.

The two teams continued to trade runs in the tenth inning. For St. Lucie, it was Branden Fryman driving in a run to take a brief one-run lead. For Jupiter, Diowill Burgos hit a sacrifice grounder that scored Orr to keep the game alive.

After the Mets put up another run in the top of the 11th, the Hammerheads finally broke through. First Dalvy Rosario came through to tie the game at five. Then, Orr stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded. The Ohio native hit a line drive single that scored Rosario and sealed the victory for Jupiter.

The walk-off win is the second walk-off win for the Hammerheads this week. Santos hit a walk-off on Tuesday night against the Mets as well.

On the mound, starter George Soriano had another strong start for the Hammerheads. Coming off of a career-high 10 strikeout performance, the righty collected eight more punchouts versus the Mets. The Dominican native went six innings and only allowed one run, lowering his ERA to 3.21 on the season.

Reliever Raul Brito also had an impressive game. The righty worked two innings of hitless baseball for Jupiter. To close out the game, Jupiter turned to Sean Reynolds. The six-foot-eight righty allowed only one hit and picked up his second win of the season.

Now, with equal records of 21-19, the Hammerheads and the Mets are deadlocked at the top of the division. The Daytona Tortugas are in second place and sit four games back.

The Hammerheads and Mets will square off on Saturday night in game five of the six-game series. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm as Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium hosts another Kid’s Club night at the ballpark. Tickets are still available HERE.

For Friday night’s full box score, CLICK HERE

Second walk-off this week?
Second walk-off this week!

This time @jdorr5 comes through in the clutch with the game-winning RBI in the 1⃣1⃣th inning! pic.twitter.com/8Xm8IPX9C0

— Jupiter Hammerheads (@GoHammerheads) June 19, 2021

Any other @MiLB or @MLB clubs have to pause the game for a foul ball that hit the fire alarm causing the stadium to evacuate? No just @GoHammerheads & @stluciemets I guess pic.twitter.com/K4zfTFzm9D

— Jamie Toole (@JamieToole) June 19, 2021