Mussels' Offense Explodes in 16-1 Win Over Hammerheads

FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 19, 2024) – Eleven Mussels reached base safely as the Fort Myers offense exploded for 16 runs on 13 hits against the Jupiter Hammerheads, the largest margin of victory for the Fort Myers franchise since a 22-5 win on August 7, 2012.

The 2012 win also came against the Hammerheads. Friday marked the highest scoring game for the Mussels since June 28, 2023 in a 16-2 win over the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

The Mussels (5-8) have now outhit the Hammerheads (8-5) in all four games of the series and have had 10 or more hits in three of the four games. The team scored in six of eight offensive innings.

With two outs in the bottom of the first, Rayne Doncon connected on a double down the left field line. Shortstop Brandon Winokur followed with an RBI single up the middle, giving Fort Myers an early inning lead for the first time in the series.

Cesar Lares (0-0) went four strong innings in his first start at Hammond Stadium, allowing just one hit and striking out two Hammerheads across four scoreless frames. Mussels’ pitching gave up just two hits throughout the game while racking up six strikeouts.

The Mussels tacked on another run in the third as Wilfri Castro crossed the plate on a balk by Jupiter starter Thomas White, putting Fort Myers ahead 2-0.

Fort Myers opened the floodgates in the middle innings, scoring 14 runs from the fourth through the seventh innings. In the fourth it was Rafael Cruz who accounted for both of the Mussels’ runs, driving in Poncho Ruiz and later scoring on an error to make it 4-0.

Byron Chourio led off the fifth with a triple to right center. The next batter, Maddux Houghton continued his tear at the plate with an RBI single up the middle to make it 5-0. Two batters later, Winokur unloaded on a 3-run homer onto the left field berm. The blast had an exit velocity of 109.7 mph as he put the Mussels ahead 8-1.

The Mussels added another four runs in the sixth, highlighted by two-run base hits from Jose Rodriguez and Ruiz.

The Hammerheads’ bullpen lost command of the strike zone in the seventh, walking five batters and allowing another four runs to score. Gregory Duran had the lone hit in the seventh with an RBI single into right field, going 2-for-3 off the bench. Fort Myers sent eight men to the plate in the fifth and sixth innings while batting around in the seventh.

Wilker Reyes (1-1) earned the win after tossing two shutout innings of relief.

The Mussels return to action on Saturday at 6:05 p.m. Charlee Soto (0-0, 2.57) takes the ball for Fort Myers opposite Nobel Meyer (0-1, 10.38) who makes his third start of the season for Jupiter. Coverage begins at 5:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.