BRADENTON, Fla. – Johan De Los Santos tripled and homered during his Bradenton Marauders (21-17) debut in a 12-9 win against the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (21-17) on Saturday from LECOM Park. Murf Gray punched a two-run homer in the eighth, while Dylan Palmer and Josh Tate combined for six hits.
After Fort Myers notched a run in the top of the first off Bradenton starter Levi Sterling, the Marauders bounced back in the bottom half of the inning against Mighty Mussels starter Reed Moring. Palmer singled and Murf Gray walked to put runners on second and first. Palmer stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly by Edgleen Perez to make it 1-1. Gray moved to second on a wild pitch and came around to score on a base hit by Tate to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
Fort Myers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fourth, but Bradenton answered back in the bottom half of the inning off Mighty Mussels reliever Michael Hilker. Tate singled, moved to second on a balk, and was plated on a base knock from Darell Morel.
Ramiro Dominguez hit a grand slam in the top of the fifth and J.P. Smith drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth to put Fort Myers up 8-3.
The Marauders offense exploded in the bottom of the sixth off Mighty Mussels reliever Matthew DesMarets. Tate singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a base hit from Cristian Jauregui. After Luke Scherrer singled to put runners on third and first, Antonio Pimentel collected a single to score Jauregui to make it 8-5. Palmer notched an RBI single and De Los Santos crushed a three-run homer to make it a 9-8 ballgame.
After the Mighty Mussels tied the game in the top of the eighth off Marauders reliever Brandon Cain, Bradenton scored again the bottom half of the inning. Scherrer singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Pimentel to put a runner in scoring position. Palmer singled and a throwing error allowed Scherrer to score and make it 10-9. Gray launched a two-run homer to center, increasing the lead, 12-9.
Bradenton reliever Draven Zeigler closed the door with a scoreless ninth, finalizing a 12-9 win for the Marauders.
Zeigler (3-0) took the win, striking out one over 1.2 scoreless innings. Mike McKenna (1-2) took the loss, letting up three runs on three hits over 0.2 frames.
The Marauders and Mighty Mussels play the finale of a six-game series on Sunday from LECOM Park. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.
For more information about the Bradenton Marauders, please call 941-747-3031, visit www.BradentonMarauders.com, or email MaraudersInfo@pirates.com.