Cards’ Rookie Deals Manatees Losing Hand

Greg McCall
The Palm Beach Cardinals got good pitching, timely hitting and took advantage of a couple mistakes on Sunday, as they beat the Brevard County Manatees 9-2, in the opener of a four-game series at Space Coast Stadium.

Palm Beach starting pitcher John Walter just signed with the club this week and was making his first Florida State League start in this game. He was opposed by Manatees hurler Cody Ponce, who was making his second start with the club this season.

The Cardinals (30-32) got on the board first on a sacrifice fly from Chris Rivera in the second inning.
Casey Grayson, who walked to start the inning, scored on the play. Ponce got through the inning and that was the end of his night. Brevard manager Joe Ayrault is still keeping Ponce’s innings limited, as he comes back slowly from arm issues. Ponce threw 34 pitches, 26 for strikes, walking one and striking out three and giving up one hit. He was charged with one run. Zach Hirsch took over for Ponce to start the third.

Brevard County (21-40) tied the game in the bottom of the inning. Clint Coulter popped a ball in the air to start the frame and three Cardinals converged, but the ball dropped out of their reach and Coulter got to second. George Iskenderian followed with a soft single, moving Coulter to third. He scored on Greg McCall’s RBI single, tying the score at one.

Coulter gave the Manatees their only lead of the game in the bottom of the third. Angel Ortega singled to start the inning and went to second when Dustin DeMuth was hit by a pitch. DeMuth returned to the lineup Sunday, after fouling a ball off his knee Friday night and not playing Saturday. 

A wild pitch moved both runners up and Coulter followed with a wicked line drive to first that Grayson dove for and made the play. He beat Coulter to the bag, but Ortega scored, giving the Manatees a 2-1 lead.

Hirsch (0-5) ran into trouble in the fourth, giving up a single and a walk. Cole Lankford hit a fly ball to left-center that Omar Garcia and Malik Collymore miscommunicated on. The error was charged to Garcia, putting runners at second and third. Rivera followed with a double over Collymore’s head, scoring both runs and giving the Cardinals a 3-2 lead. Andrew Sohn’s RBI groundout made it 4-2.

Brevard County looked set to cut into the lead in the sixth when Coulter singled and advanced to third on a two-base error. Iskenderian took a pitch off his hand, putting runners at the corners. After McCall lined out, Walter was lifted from the game. He gave the Cardinals 5.1 innings, allowing six hits and two runs. He struck out six without walking a batter.

Cody Schumacher took over and the Manatees attempted a double steal. The throw went to second, where Iskenderian slid in safely. The throw back to the plate was in time to nail Coulter. Jose Cuas struck out to end the inning, one of his three strikeouts on the day.

Palm Beach added to their lead in the seventh with an RBI single from Darren Seferina. Clint Terry was called on out of the ‘Tees bullpen and Seferina stepped on the gas, stealing second and then third. He scored on Allen Staton’s double, making it 6-2.

The Cardinals capped the scoring in the top of the ninth against Zack Jones. After getting the first out, Jones gave up a single and two walks. That ended the day for Jones, who was yanked in favor of Josh Uhen. Orland Olivera got a sac fly RBI and Lankford came up and laced a double into the gap in left-center. That made it a 9-2 game. All three runs were charged to Jones, who pitched 1/3 of an inning, giving up one hit and walking two. He threw 25 pitches, 14 strikes. His ERA ballooned to 8.10.

For more info: Palm Beach @ Brevard County boxscore

Brevard County had nine hits as a team Saturday, with Ortega, Coulter and Iskenderian getting two hits each. The Manatees will look to even the series Monday night when they welcome Kodi Medeiros back to the mound. Medeiros hasn’t pitched since May 27 against Tampa, when he went five innings. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.


This article originally appeared on the now defunct Examiner.com on 6/12/16

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