Tortugas Walk Off in Ten to Take Series

DAYTONA BEACH—Yerlin Confidan blasted his second homer in as many nights, Joseph Menefee fired 3.0 clutch scoreless innings late, and the Daytona Tortugas walked off the St. Lucie Mets 5-4 in ten innings in the series finale Sunday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Daytona (15-19, 44-55) earned their first series victory in over a month thanks to their sixth walk-off victory of the season, as St. Lucie (11-25, 35-66) failed to push across key runners late in the game.

After a scoreless first, Daytona scratched across a run against Jordan Geber in the second. Cam Collier led off with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a balk. That proved to be fortuitous as Ethan O’Donnell brought home Collier with a chopper to second in his first at-bat as a Tortuga, pushing Daytona ahead 1-0.

St. Lucie, though, answered against Daytona starter Ryan Cardona. A leadoff infield single was followed by a triple to right-center from Kevin Villavicencio that tied the game. Immediately thereafter, Cardona balked, bringing home Villavicencio to give St. Lucie a 2-1 lead.

Daytona, though, answered right back. In his first at-bat as a Tortuga, Connor Burns blasted a triple to left-center and came home when Confidan got a 3-0 green light and blasted a 451-foot rocket to right-center for a two-run homer. The longest home run by a Tortuga this season gave Daytona the lead back at 3-2.

After three innings, Cardona departed for Pedro Alfonseca, who brushed off a two-out walk to throw a scoreless inning. He then gave way to Brett Lockwood, who surrendered a one-one single, but spun a scoreless fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Tortugas doubled the lead. Yassel Pino led off by rolling a double up the left field line, then came home on a Victor Acosta double, which extended his hitting streak to 12 games. However, Confidan was cut down at the plate also trying to score on the play, which ended a shot at a bigger inning.

With a 4-2 lead, Lockwood spun scoreless sixth and seventh frames, striking out two in a 1-2-3 seventh. He came out for a fourth inning to start the eighth, though, and things went downhill. Diego Mosquera led off with a double up the first base line. Confidan’s throw to second sailed wide and rolled into the left field bullpen, allowing Mosquera to circle the bases to trim the lead to one.

Another double chased Lockwood for Menefee, who jumped ahead of Vincent Perozo 0-2, but then allowed another two-bagger, tying the game at four. A wild pitch moved Perozo to third, but two strikeouts and a comebacker allowed Menefee to keep it tied.

The left-hander worked around a one-out double in the ninth and St. Lucie’s Jimmy Loper answered with a scoreless frame of his own to send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the tenth, Menefee (6-3) returned for his third inning of work and retired all three men he faced while not allowing the automatic baserunner to score. That set up a golden opportunity for Daytona to win it.

Carlos Jorge came on to pinch-run as the automatic runner and Acosta was intentionally walked to begin the inning. Elliot Johnstone then walked Hector Rodriguez on four pitches to load the bases with no outs. On a 3-2 pitch, Sal Stewart took a pitch inside for ball four, forcing home Jorge with the winning run to give Daytona a 5-4 victory.

Daytona will have Monday off before hitting the road to take on the Jupiter Hammerheads beginning on Tuesday night. First pitch from the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday with pregame coverage with the voice of the Tortugas, Brennan Mense, beginning at 6:15 p.m. on the Tortugas Radio Network.

Daytona Tortugas single-game tickets and ticket packages are on sale now at daytonatortugas.com, (386) 257-3172, or the box office at 110 East Orange Ave.

ABOUT THE DAYTONA TORTUGAS

The Daytona Tortugas are the Single-A Affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds and a member of Minor League Baseball’s Florida State League. The Tortugas play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in downtown Daytona Beach, Fla. Jackie Robinson Ballpark also plays host to Bethune-Cookman University, the Jackie Robinson Ballpark Museum, and many community events and initiatives of all sizes throughout the year.