Marauders Ninth Inning Rally Not Enough in 4-3 Defeat

BRADENTON, FL — The Bradenton Marauders plated a run in the ninth inning before falling just short 4-3 to the Daytona Tortugas in front of 1,788 fans on Saturday night at LECOM Park.

The Marauders offense jumped ahead early in the first inning after Ben Brutti struggled with his control. The right-hander walked two and hit another to the first three batters of the contest. Shalin Polanco drove home a run on a groundout before a balk scored another to make it 2-0 Bradenton.

Michael Kennedy dominated early by striking out seven of the first 10 batters and retiring all 10 before a one-out double in the fourth by Ricardo Cabrera. The next batter, Dominic Pitelli, singled home Cabrera to cut the Bradenton lead to 2-1. The 19-year-old Kennedy finished the night tying his career-high with five innings pitched while striking out eight and allowing just one run.

Daytona ultimately tied the game in the sixth on a fielder’s choices by Cabrera before taking their first lead of the night in the eighth. Peyton Stumbo (0-1) entered in the seventh to record the last out to strand two runners on the basepaths. In the eighth, Stumbo issued a one-out walk to Carlos Sanchez before Cabrera singled and advanced to second on an error. With two runners in scoring position, Connor Burns then singled back up the middle to push Daytona ahead 4-2.

Juan Martinez (1-0) had retired seven in-a-row before walking Omar Alfonzo and Esmerlyn Valdez to start the ninth. Shalin Polanco smacked an opposite field ground-rule double to score Alfonzo and place the tying run at third and winning run at second with nobody out.

Simon Miller (SV,2) entered out of the bullpen to face Garret Forrester who singled to centerfield. Valdez was thrown out attempting to score as the tying run with Polanco advancing to third. Javier Rivas’ sacrifice bunt advanced Forrester to second to bring up Justin Miknis who was intentionally walked. With the bases loaded and two outs, P.J. Hilson grounded out to third to end the contest.

The Marauders and Tortugas wrap up their six-game series on Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 11:40 a.m. on the Marauders Broadcast Network. Bradenton will send RHP Khristian Curtis to the mound, opposite of LHP Nick Sando for the Tortugas.