Reyes, Thomason Come up Clutch in 5-4 Extra Innings Win

JUPITER, Fla. (August 11, 2024) – Jay Thomason delivered the go-ahead RBI in the top of the tenth and Wilker Reyes stranded the tying run at third to lift Fort Myers past Jupiter 5-4 Sunday at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

The Mighty Mussels’ win caps a 5-1 week and keeps them 2.0 games ahead of the Lakeland Flying Tigers in the FSL West. The Mussels and Flying Tigers will play six games head-to-head at Hammond Stadium beginning on Tuesday.

After Jupiter had scored three in the eighth to tie the game 4-4, both teams failed to score in the ninth.

With Jaime Ferrer at second in the top of the tenth, Thomason lined a single to left to give the Mussels a 5-4 lead.

Reyes, who closed out a dicey ninth, induced a sacrifice bunt from Fenwick Trimble to start the bottom of the tenth. With one out and a runner at third, Reyes gassed up Garret Forrester with a 93.8 mph fastball to keep the tying run at third. He then walked JT Mabry to put the potential winning run on base. Spencer Bramwell followed and attacked the first pitch and lined out to left field to end the game.

Fort Myers is now 12-3 in their last 15 road games and 17-4 in their last 21 road contests.

Scoreless into the third inning, Jupiter struck first with an RBI single from Fenwick Trimble.

With Fort Myers trailing 1-0 in the top of the fifth, Derek Bender singled with two outs before Byron Chourio drew a walk. The next batter was Kaelen Culpepper, who lined a single to right to score Bender. The throw to second kicked off Jupiter shortstop Carter Johnson, allowing Chourio to come in and give the Mussels a 2-1 lead. Kyle DeBarge followed with a single before Juan Reynoso walked two consecutive batters to make it 3-1.

The Mussels tacked on another run in the seventh with two walks and a groundout.

Fort Myers will enjoy an off day on Monday before starting their six-game series with Lakeland at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday. Coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.