A Sunday to Remember: Marauders Storm Back Late in 4-3 Victory

DUNEDIN, FL — The Bradenton Marauders had no-hit the Dunedin Blue Jays for six plus innings but entered the ninth trailing 3-2. That changed when Axiel Plaz led off the frame with a game-tying 449 ft home run to left field against Yondrei Rojas (1-1) as Bradenton ended up scoring two runs in the ninth to defeat the Blue Jays 4-3 on Sunday afternoon at TD Ballpark.

Afte Plaz homered to tie the game, Javier Rivas then doubled off the wall in centerfield and later scored on a Jeral Toledo double to take a 4-3 advantage. In the bottom of the ninth, Manny Beltre collected an infield single with two-outs before Garrett McMillan (2-2) induced a game-ending groundout to win the ballgame.

Bradenton jumped ahead on the scoreboard first in the third against Gage Stanifer. Juan Jerez walked and scored on a Keiner Delgado triple to push the Marauders in front 1-0. With the hit, Delgado now owns a nine-game hitting streak, the longest by a Marauder batter this year.

In the fourth, Eddy Rodriguez walked and advanced two bases on a pair of wild pitches by Stanifer. Enmanuel Terrero pushed a bunt up the first baseline to score him and double the Bradenton advantage to 2-0.

Dunedin scored the next three unanswered runs beginning in the fourth. Beltre worked a one-out walk against Connor Oliver and advanced to third on a fielding error before scoring on a steal of home to cut the deficit to 2-1. Oliver allowed just one unearned run while striking out five in four no-hit innings.

Carlos Jimenez walked the bases full in the fifth with Jean Joseph scoring a run on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two. The Blue Jays took the first lead of the afternoon in the sixth after Jimenez again walked the bases full and issued a free pass to Bryce Arnold to score the Blue Jays’ go-ahead tally. The scoreline remained the same until the ninth.

Bradenton carried a no hitter into the seventh inning, when Beltre hit a bloop single to left-center field to break up the perfection.

With the win on Sunday, the Marauders split the series with Dunedin on the six-game road trip. It’s their first road split or victory of the 2024 season.

After an off day on Monday, the Marauders return to LECOM Park to start a six-game series against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. The first three games of the homestand mark the end of the first half of the season with the latter three marking the start of the second half. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 5:10 p.m. on the Marauders Broadcast Network.