Jupiter Hammers Brevard County in Sunday Matinée

Dustin DeMuth

The Jupiter Hammerheads offense exploded Sunday, as they pounded out 15 hits and 13 runs, en route to a 13-3 victory over the Brevard County Manatees, at Roger Dean Stadium.

Brevard County starter Kodi Medeiros, who was making his first start in exactly a week, as back spasms held him to just two innings last week in Dunedin. His outing on Sunday was even shorter, as he was lifted after 1.2 innings. He was not fully to blame, as there were two errors committed, leading to three unearned runs on his line in less than two innings. 

Dexter Kjerstad led off with a double in the bottom of the first. He moved to third on a balk and came home when Brian Anderson hit a roller to third that went through the legs of Jose Cuas. John Norwood was hit by a pitch and Brad Haynal came through with a two-run double, giving the Hammerheads a 3-0 lead. None of those runs were earned, due to the error.

Medeiros (2-5) got the first out in the second inning, before the wheels came off. Rehiner Cordova and Kjerstad singled. The ball hit by Kjerstad was misplayed in left by Brandon Diaz, moving them up to second and third. Medeiros came back to strike out Justin Bohn, but the third strike was wild, allowing Cordova to score the fourth unearned run. One out later, Taylor Ard took Medeiros deep over the left field wall, giving the home nine a 7-0 lead. Another wild pitch, along with a Haynal RBI double made it 8-0. That was the end of the day for Medeiros, who gave way to Zach Hirsch, who got the final out of the inning.

Medeiros was tagged for eight runs on seven hits, five of the runs were earned. He walked one and struck out two, as his ERA ballooned to 7.01. He threw 53 pitches, 34 for strikes. His counterpart on the Jupiter side, James Buckelew (2-0) allowed one hit, a second inning single to Elvis Rubio, in his five innings of work. He struck out five on just 60 pitches, 46 of those were in the zone. Buckelew’s ERA went down from 1.14 to 0.94 with his outing. 

A new pitcher in the sixth gave Brevard County new life. Tim Berry gave up back-to-back singles to Diaz and Johnny Davis. The Davis knock extended his on-base streak to 28 games. One out later, Dustin DeMuth launched a ball to dead-center that just cleared the wall and got the Manatees on the board, 8-3. It was DeMuth’s second long ball of the season and he now has 17 RBIs on the season.

Kaleb Earls came in to pitch the seventh in relief of Hirsch, who struck out three in 4.1 innings of scoreless relief. He allowed four hits. The Hammerheads wasted no time, adding on against Earls. A single, walk and hit by pitch loaded the bases and Bohn came up with a 2-run double, making it 10-3. One out later, Ard reached on the second error of the day by Cuas at third, as he airmailed a throw to first, allowing two more unearned runs to score. Three Manatees’ errors on the day, led to five of the 13 runs being unearned.

The last Jupiter run of the day came on a home run off the bat of Haynal, who took Josh Uhen deep. The Hammerheads added a walk and a single in the inning and were poised to score another run when Uhen was called for a balk, plating Joe Chavez. Uhen, along with Manatees manager Joe Ayrault argued that Uhen heard the public address announcer still talking and music still playing, so he was unaware the inning had officially started. The argument was successful and the score remained 13-3.

For more info: Brevard County @ Jupiter boxscore

DeMuth and Rubio finished the game 2-for-4 for the Manatees, accounting for four of the teams’ six hits. Kjerstad and Haynal both went 3-for-5 for Jupiter, while Bohn, Ard and Arturo Rodriguez had two hits each.

The series wraps up Monday night with a 6:30 start in Jupiter. Michael Mader (2-1, 2.55 ERA) will get the start for the Hammerheads. Brevard County (14-29) has yet to name a starter.

This article originally appeared on the now defunct Examiner.com on 5/22/16