Bickford Gets First Win, Brevard Snaps Streak

Phil Bickford
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, giving Bickford his two run cushion back against Clearwater reliever Jeff Singer.

Wendell Rijo
Wendell Rijo
David Denson and Dustin Houle greeted Singer with consecutive singles. Jose Cuas laid down a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third. Rijo followed with a two-run double, making it 4-2. Rijo was cut down at third, trying to stretch it, but he did his job.

Bickford (1-0) got the final out after giving up the two runs and used a six pitch inning to get through the sixth. He did not come out for the seventh, but pitched well, giving up seven hits and two earned runs. He did not walk a batter and struck out five.  He threw 91 pitches, 61 for strikes.

Kender Villegas took over for Bickford in the seventh and Malquin Canelo took him deep over the wall in left field, cutting the lead to 4-3. Villegas settled down after that, retiring the next six batters he faced. The home run was the only blemish against him in two innings, as he struck out one and did not walk a batter. He threw 17 of his 23 pitches for strikes.

The Manatees added an insurance run in the ninth on an RBI double by Ray, making it 5-3.  Brad Kuntz came on to pitch the bottom of the ninth, giving up only a single, earning his fifth save.

For more info: Brevard County @ Clearwater boxscore

The Manatees (38-89, 15-44) out hit Clearwater 11-9 on Wednesday. Besides Ray and Rijo’s three hits, Denson and Dustin Houle went 2-for-4. Tocci (3-for-4) and Canelo (2-for-4) were the only
Corey Ray
Corey Ray
Threshers to have multi-hit nights.


Bubba Derby (6-10, 5.42 ERA) will try to get the Manatees second win in a row in the series finale on Thursday. He will be opposed by Elniery Garcia (10-4, 2.86 ERA).


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