Sports Lowdown

Trey York's first Advanced-A hit The Clearwater Threshers helped bolster their playoff position, picking up a doubleheader sweep of the Manatees on Tuesday, ending a marathon night of baseball. The Threshers won game one, 2-1 and completed the sweep with a 3-2 win in game two. Following the suspension of Monday night’s game, in the bottom of the second, the two teams were scheduled to resume play at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. That didn’t happen, the teams sat through another 2 hour, 50-minute rain delay, before finally being able to pick up the first game, in the bottom of the second inning. Phil Bickford started the first game Monday, getting the first two Threshers out before walking the bases loaded. Jiandido Tromp bailed him out with a foul out to third. The Threshers were able to get on the board, just prior to the suspension Monday, thanks to a single by Carlos Tocci. That was the third single of the inning and gave the Threshers a 1-0 lead. The rain came at that p...

The Florida Tech athletic department has taken another step in keeping fans informed. Tuesday, the school introduced the Panther Weekly Update , which will be released on Mondays. This is a great way to keep up on the scheduled sporting events going on at FIT. The weekly update will let you know what days the Panthers teams are playing, home and away and will feature links you can use to follow the game action. Sports Lowdown will post a link to the update every week here on the website and it will also be available on our Twitter account . Panther Weekly Update – August 29 – Sept. 4 We will be publishing our first Florida Tech game article, following Saturday’s football opener against Newberry College, in South Carolina. We look forward to bringing you coverage of Florida Tech Athletics throughout the season.  This blog is an extension of our website - Sportslowdown.com

The Jacksonville Jaguars cut their roster to the required 75 players, ahead of Tuesday’s 4:00 p.m. deadline. James Sample was placed on injured reserve, while Nic Jacobs and Bjoern Werner were released. Those moves follow the earlier dismissal of LB Joplo Bartu, WR Shaq Evans, K Sam Ficken, CB Mike Hilton, RB Cameron Marshall, CB Demetrius McCray, P Ryan Quigley, WR Jamal Robinson, TE Nic Jacobs, DE Bjoern Werner, S Earl Wolf (waived/injured) were cut. Sample, who was injured last season, was hurt again in the preseason opener against the Jets. OL Jeff Linkenbach (concussion) were placed on injured reserve. OL Luke Bowanko and DL Jonathan Woodard were placed on PUP. There is one more roster cut coming, when the team must go from 75, to 53 by September 1 at 4:00 p.m. That final cut will likely include some familiar names, as the team was less than impressive in Sunday’s win against the Bengals . Yes, it’s preseason, but it was the third preseason game, which is th...

Dustin Houle The Tampa Yankees had a big offensive day on Sunday, knocking around Brevard County Manatees pitching for 15 hits in an 8-2 victory. It was the 15 th  consecutive victory for Tampa this season over the Manatees and they finished the season series with a 16-2 record. The day got off to a tough start for Manatees manager Joe Ayrault in the bottom of the first and was likely a sign of things to come.  With one out,  Thairo Estrada  and  Gleyber Torres  hit back-to-back singles against starter  Kodi Medeiros .  Trey Amburgey  was next to the plate and he checked his swing early in the at bat on a ball in the dirt. Manatees catcher  Mitch Ghelfi  caught it, but both Yankees runners moved up without a throw. Ayrault came out to argue, likely saying that the ball was foul-tipped, which is why there was no throw. He stated his case first to home plate umpire Jose Navas and then to base umpire Reid Joyner. He then ...

Corey Ray The Brevard County Manatees managed just two hits in a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Yankees, at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Both hits came off the bat of leadoff man  Corey Ray , who singled in the fourth and hit a home run in the seventh, breaking up the shutout. The Yankees started the scoring in the third inning, against Manatees starter  Cody Ponce .  Devyn Bolasky  tripled with one out and came home on a single off the bat of  Wes Wilson . After Ponce got the second out,  Jeff Hendrix  doubled, putting runners at the corners.  Gleyber Torres  followed with a walk to load the bases and  Trey Amburgey ’s single made it 2-0. When all was said and done, the Yankees sent eight to the plate, had four hits and a walk. They added some insurance, with two more in the fifth. Wilson singled and  Jorge Mateo  walked. A fly out by Jeff Hendrix got Wilson to third and Mateo later stole second. Torres plated them both ...

Jose Cuas The Brevard County Manatees pounded out 15 hits and sent nine men to the plate in the top of the ninth, scoring three runs, but falling just short in a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. The Manatees left the bases loaded in that ninth inning and left 12 men on base in all, but showed a lot of fight, despite losing their 91 st game of the season and the 13 th in a row to the Yankees this season. Tampa is now 14-2 against Brevard County this season, with two games remaining. The Yankees (75-55, 33-28) scored a run in the top of the first, against Manatees starter Jon Perrin on a Gleyber Torres single. That plated Thairo Estrada, who had a hustle double earlier in the frame. Malik Collymore led off the top of the third with a single against Tampa starter Josh Rogers. One out later, Mitch Ghelfi moved him to third on an infield hit. Collymore later scored on a fielder’s choice by Blake Allemand, tying things up at one. Tampa ...

Blake Allemand The Brevard County Manatees suffered their 90 th loss of 2016 on Thursday, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Clearwater Threshers at Bright House Field. The Manatees offense managed only four hits, three against Threshers starter Elniery Garcia. Manatees starter Bubba Derby pitched well for the most part, but ran into trouble in the first inning.  Zack Coppola walked and Josh Tobias and Carlos Tocci followed with singles, loading the bases. That brought Aaron Brown to the plate and he hit a high-chopper over the head of Mitch Ghelfi at first, scoring two runs. Derby gave up two hits in the second, but got out of the inning, thanks in large part to a double play.  Meanwhile, his counterpart, Garcia, had not allowed a baserunner through 3.2 innings retiring the first 11 batters he faced. Blake Allemand changed that with one swing of the bat, a solo long ball, making it a 2-1 game, after four. After the two hits Derby allowed in the second, he wen...

It is time for the Jacksonville Jaguars to walk the walk. It is the third year for quarterback Blake Bortles and head coach Gus Bradley is in his fourth. It was made clear by team owner Shad Khan before the end of last season, that things were going to have to turn around in 2016. Khan has been a man of his word since getting to Jacksonville, whether it was his plans for the team or upgrades to EverBank Stadium, he has followed through. There is no reason to think he won’t follow through on changing things up if this team struggles this season. Bradley was known as a defensive specialist when he took the job in Jacksonville, mainly because of the Seahawks defense he built in 2013 that allowed 15.3 points per game. Yes, that team had different personnel and at a lot of positions, better personnel, no one would argue that. The issue is, the Jaguars and GM Dave Caldwell have brought in defensive upgrades in the last two seasons. It has done no good. The Jaguars defense has...

Phil Bickford Corey Ray and Wendell Rijo both went 3-for-4 on Wednesday, leading the Brevard County Manatees to a 5-3 win at Clearwater. The win snapped a 13-game losing streak, that started back on August 10 at Lakeland. Manatees starter Phil Bickford held a very potent Clearwater offense off the board for the first four innings and got his first win in a Brevard County uniform. His team struck for two runs in the top of the fifth. Rijo singled with one out against Threshers starter Shane Watson and Ray singled one out later, moving Rijo to third. Mitch Ghelfi then drilled a 1-2 pitch to right, scoring Rijo. Aaron Brown came up throwing, but his throw to the plate was wide, allowing Ray to score and giving the Manatees a 2-0 lead. The lead wouldn’t last long, as Clearwater (75 -52, 36-23) got back-to-back two-out RBI singles in the bottom of the inning, from Carlos Tocci and Chace Numata, tying the game. The Manatees bounced right back in the top of the sixth, givin...

Devin Williams The Clearwater Threshers did all their damage in the fourth inning on Tuesday, en route to a 3-0 win over the Brevard County Manatees in the opener of a three-game series at Bright House Field. Each team had just four hits in the game, but Clearwater made theirs count, against Manatees reliever Devin Williams. Williams was the scheduled starter, but Kodi Medeiros got the call and pitched two innings of no-hit baseball, walking one and striking out two. He threw 16 of his 29 pitches for strikes. Two of the four Manatees hits came in the third inning on back-to-back singles by Mitch Ghelfi and Blake Allemand against Threshers starter Brandon Leibrandt. Williams (0-2) came in and retired the side in order in the third, but Clearwater got to him in the fourth. Carlos Tocci led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. Chace Numata grounded out, moving him to third and he rode home on a single by Josh Tobias. That was an especially difficult hit...

Rashad Crawford The Tampa Yankees put a five-spot up in the top of the first inning and went on to beat the Brevard County Manatees 8-3 on Sunday, completing the weekend sweep. Cody Ponce started for Brevard County and things did not go well right from the get go. He hit Jorge Mateo leading off the game. Mateo stole second and took third after catcher Mitch Ghelfi threw the ball into center field. Ponce then committed an error on a ball hit by Thairo Estrada. Mateo came home and Estrada went to second. Gleyber Torres followed with an RBI single, making it 2-0. Zack Zehner walked one out later and Rashad Crawford, who had  two hits on Saturday , muscled up and hit one over the right field wall, giving the Yankees a 5-0 lead. Kevin Cornelius and Jeff Hendrix hit back-to-back singles, before Ponce got the final two outs. Ponce threw 36 pitches in that first inning and did come out for the second inning, but after one pitch to Estrada, he was pulled from the game. Clin...

Jon Perrin The Brevard County Manatees managed just four hits Saturday night in a 2-1 loss to the Tampa Yankees, at Space Coast Stadium. Tampa scored just one run against Manatees starter Jon Perrin, who had another sparkling outing for the Manatees, but the offense couldn’t get him a much deserved win. “He threw the ball really well, we just didn’t get any run support behind him,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault.  “We got guys throwing really good games, especially Perrin. He’s probably in the top 10 in ERA in the league in pitching, doing a heck of a job, having a real good season.” Brevard County (14-42, 37-87) did get on the board first in the bottom of the first inning. Corey Ray led off with a double and Mitch Ghelfi singled one out later, moving Ray to third. Elvis Rubio hit into a fielder’s choice at second, but the throw to first pulled Kevin Cornelius off the bag and Ray scored. That was the only run that spot starter Sean Carley gave up in four inn...

Mitch Ghelfi Nestor Cortes threw 7.1 perfect innings and the Tampa Yankees pounded out 19 hits, in an 11-0 win over the Brevard County Manatees in the opener of a three-game series at Space Coast Stadium. Every Yankee had a hit Friday night, with six of the nine getting multiple hits. Devyn Bolasky led the hit parade with a 4-for-5 night, while Jorge Mateo (3-for-6) and Gleyber Torres (3-for-5) had big nights as well. “Tip your hat to the guy on the mound and they got a good squad over there,” said Manatees skipper Joe Ayrault. “They got some guys over there that can really swing the bat. Some of their top dogs on that squad and they had a good night tonight.” Tampa (29-26, 71-53) got on the board in the top of the first, starting with a single and two walks against Manatees hurler Marcos Diplan. Trey Amburgey’s sacrifice fly scored the first run of the night. They got three more in the second inning, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of Torres. Diplan had a ...

Corey Ray The Lakeland Flying Tigers completed a series sweep on Thursday, beating the Brevard County Manatees 7-4 in front of 1,162 at Space Coast Stadium. This was the final game between these two teams in 2016, with Lakeland winning the season series 14-4. The Manatees (14-40, 37-85) got on the board first when Corey Ray led off the bottom of the first with a double and came home on an Elvis Rubio double. Rubio came home thanks to two wild pitches by Flying Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull. Lakeland tied it in the top of the second against Manatees starter Devin Williams. Anthony Pereira had an RBI double and Rashad Brown hit a ball that dropped into short left field, with three Manatees in pursuit. That scored Pereira with the tying run. The Manatees regained the lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by David Denson. It was Denson’s first RBI since his debut with Brevard County 14 games ago. That lead was short-lived, as Lakeland picked up two more runs...