Playoff Dream Comes to an End

The Marauders (39-24, 74-54) and the Fort Myers Might Mussels (33-30, 67-62) for the fourth game of a six-game series on a cool and breezy Friday night in Lee County. Bradenton fell behind early and could not overcome a deficit as they lost 7-5; with the loss, the Marauders are eliminated from postseason contention.

The Young Bucs starter, Owen Kellington, went four innings, gave up four earned runs, and took the loss for the game.

The offense was hard to come by early as the game entered the fourth deadlocked at 0-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Mighty Mussels hammered four balls into the outfield and, in turn, pushed across four runs to take a substantial lead going into the fifth.

In the fifth, the Mussels added on a field goal as they sprayed the ball to all parts of the yard off of Daniel Carrion to go up by a score of 7-0 with four innings to play.

As with all year, the Marauders the Marauders still had a little magic left in them. In the top of the eight, Bradenton loaded the bases with nobody out and splashed out five runs, with Charles McAdoo, Kalae Harrison, Omar Alfonzo, and Javier Rivas all collecting RBI knocks to pull the Young Bucs within two at 7-5.

In the top of the ninth, with the season on the line, the Marauders needed two runs to stay alive. Bradenton ran out of gas in the tank and was set down in 1-2-3 fashion, ending the game with the good guys two runs shy of the miraculous comeback.

Bradenton fought till the end of this postseason push across the 2023 season and gave fans and staff alike fond memories and moments to look back on this year.

The season will conclude with two games played in Fort Myers on Saturday and Sunday.