Having already squared off eight times, Fort Myers returned to McKechnie Field to face the familiar Bradenton Marauders. The Miracle sent 19 year old Adrian Salcedo (0-1) to the mound to oppose Bradenton’s Brian Leach (2-1). Bradenton struck first as Brock Holt scored a run in the first inning off of a Tony Sanchez sacrifice fly. This would be the only lead Bradenton would hold the entire game, and it did not last long. In the following inning Leach gave up back to back singles to Daniel Rohlfing and Jair Fernandez. Nicholas Romero drove in both runners with a single to take the lead, 2 to 1. In the third, Brian Dozier added another run for the Miracle off an Evan Bigley sacrifice. Bradenton tried to keep it close, adding another run to tie the game when Robbie Grossman’s single to right field brought Brock Holt home. Fort Myers answered right back in the fourth inning. After a walk by Nicholas Romero, Joe Benson hit a two run home run to give the Miracle a 4 to 2 lead. In the sixth inning, Michael Felix replaced Brian Leach for the Marauders. Joe Benson hit another two run home run, brining Fort Myers lead to 6- 2. In the bottom of the inning, the Miracle replaced Salcedo with left-hander, Tony Davis. The Miracle broke the game wide open in the top of the seventh. Evan Bigley led off the inning with a single, followed by a walk to Nathan Hanson. A wild pitch from Felix advanced the runners to second and third. With two outs, Nicholas Romero hit a ground rule double which scored Bigley and Hanson. The Marauders sent Tyler Cox to relieve Felix. Joe Benson collected his third hit of the inning, knocking a single past shortstop Brock Holt. Cox walked the next batter, Brian Dozier to load the bases. Chris Parmalee hit his first grand slam of the season to give the Miracle a 12-2 lead. Tony Davis struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh. Eric Fryer hit a double in the bottom of the eighth, then advanced to third on a passed ball by catcher Daniel Rohlfing. Fryer scored on a single from Calvin Anderson. Davis struck out another three batters to end the inning. Fort Myers brought Steve Blevins in the game to replace Davis, who had a tremendous performance, strking out eight and walking only two in three innings of work. Blevins set the Bradenton batters down in order to end the game with a final score of 12-3. Salcedo was credited the win and Brian Leach took the loss.
What follows is a collection of images captured by Katie Carlson of Envision Sports Media during Thursday’s baseball game. All material in this post remains the sole property of Envision Sports Media and may not be reproduced without permission, obtainable by writing katie@envisionsportsmedia.com. Additional images not shown here are available upon request.
