Ninth-Inning Rally Comes Up Short in Series-Ending Setback

CLEARWATER, Fla—The Daytona Tortugas scored a run and had the bases loaded, but came one big hit short as they fell to the Clearwater Threshers 3-2 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at BayCare Ballpark.

Clearwater (27-12) won five of six in the series as Daytona (19-20) finishes off a difficult stretch in which they went 2-10 against the top two teams in the Florida State League, Lakeland and Clearwater.

In the first inning, Clearwater jumped ahead against Daytona starter Jose Montero. After a leadoff walk and fielder’s choice, Devin Saltiban stole second. One pitch later, Pierce Bennett rolled a base hit up the middle to score Saltiban, putting the Threshers up 1-0.

An inning later, the Threshers added to the lead. A walk and infield single put two on with no outs. A groundout advanced both runners into scoring position before a sacrifice fly brought in a run. Trent Farquhar followed with a single through the right side to score a second tally, putting Clearwater ahead 3-0.

Clearwater starter Jonathan Petit navigated around two runners in the second, but Daytona got to him in the third. Carter Graham led off by slicing a double down the right-field line. Three batters later, Dominic Pitelli yanked a two-bagger of his own to right, scoring Graham to trim the deficit to 3-1.

After that, the pitching staffs dug in. For Clearwater, Brandon Beckel (1-0) entered in the fourth and allowed just one hit over 3.0 scoreless innings. Paxton Thompson followed him by going six-up, six-down with four strikeouts over the seventh and eighth frames.

Meanwhile, Montero (1-3) settled down to finish his 4.0-inning start with a pair of scoreless innings. He gave way to Gabriel Aguilera in the fifth, who allowed a one-out single, but nothing more over the remainder of his outing. The right-hander struck our four over 4.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and no walks as he ended his day by retiring the final 11 hitters he faced.

Still trailing 3-1, Daytona mounted a rally against Clearwater closer Saul Teran in the ninth. Pitelli drew a walk for the Tortugas’ first baserunner since the fourth. He then moved to second on a one-out hit from Alfredo Duno. With two outs, Malvin Valdez extended the game with an RBI single to close the gap to one run, then Faltine walked to load the bases. Graham, though, flew out to left to end the game as the Tortugas came up just short in a 3-2 defeat.

The Tortugas will have Monday off before returning home to begin a six-game series at home against the Ft. Myers Mighty Mussels. Starting pitchers for both teams are still to be determined. Tuesday will be a Silver Sluggers night and Breast Cancer Awareness Night, plus we will have $3 taco specials for Taco Tuesday. First pitch from Jackie Robinson Ballpark is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense begins at 6:20 p.m.