Palm Beach Cardinals 3, Bradenton Marauders 2
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The Marauders tied the game with a late-inning rally, but the Cardinals came back with a run in their half of the 8th to take the win. All but one batter in the Marauders’ line-up had at least one hit, and 2B Jarek Cunningham had two — a single and a triple.
Bradenton starter Nate Baker kept the Cardinals scoreless over the first three innings, scattering 3 hits. The 4th began with four consecutive singles, all grounders, which brought in one run and left the bases loaded with no outs. a grounder force out at second scored another run, before Baker was able to end the rally with a strikeout and a ground out. Baker gave up a single in the 5th, but erased the runner with a double play, then ended his outing with a 1-2-3 inning in the 6th. He finished with 2 runs on 8 hits, no walks, and 5 strikeouts in 6 innings.
The Marauders’ batters scattered 5 hits over the first 7 innings: a single by 3B Elevys Gonzalez in the 2nd, a double by C Carlos Paulino in the 4th, and a single by LF Adalberto Santos in the 7th, all resulted in no runs scoring. In the 3rd, SS Benji Gonzalez and Cunningham both singled, and 1B Aaron Baker walked, loading the bases for the biggest threat the Marauders had in until the 8th inning — but strikeouts ended the rally without a run scoring.
Finally, in the 8th, the first 4 Marauders reached base safely: a single by RF Robbie Grossman, a triple by Cunningham, a double by CF Evan Chambers, and a single by Aaron Baker. Cunningham and Chambers picked up the RBI’s, and the score was tied. After a strikeout, a double play ended the inning, with Aaron Baker out at second.
Jhonathan Ramos pitched a perfect inning for the Marauders in the bottom of the 7th. Ryan Beckman came on for the bottom of the 8th, and with a walk, a stolen base, a ground out, and a wild pitch, the Cardinals took the lead again. The Marauders could not respond in the top of the 9th, and Beckman was charged with the loss.
