Ray’s First Homer Lifts Manatees to Victory

Corey Ray HR Swing

Corey Ray hit his first professional home run Thursday, lifting the Brevard County Manatees to a 4-3 victory over the visiting Daytona Tortugas at Space Coast Stadium. It was quite a turnaround for the home nine, who scored three runs in the seventh inning after being one hit through the first six, by 

Daytona starter Jose Lopez, who was making his Florida State League debut.

“It’s pretty much typical for us, we get rolling later in ballgames,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault. “These guys don’t give up and we’ve had a lot of games like this, just came alive in the seventh inning.

Ray led off the bottom of the first with a double and made it to third, before ultimately being stranded. There would not be another Manatees baserunner until Ray walked with two outs in the sixth.

Marcos Diplan

Daytona (23-15, 59-47) got on the board in the first, helped by Manatees starter Marcos Diplan walking the bases loaded. Gavin LaValley then hit a liner back toward Diplan that he deflected, for a 1-4-3 putout, with one run scoring. Diplan then proceeded to strikeout the next two hitters and get out of the inning.

“He did a great job in the first minimizing the damage,” said Ayrault. “That game could’ve been won or lost right there. You got bases loaded nobody out, not looking good and for him to really grind it and get the out and get out of the inning only giving up one run, was huge for us.”

Brian O’Grady made it 2-0 in the fourth inning with a long home run over the wall in right. Diplan bounced back and was able to get through five innings, allowing four hits and four walks. Considering three of those came in the first, that is pretty impressive. He threw 86 pitches, while striking out five batters.

Meanwhile, Lopez had shown no signs of slowing down, as he kept the Manatees off balance for much of the night. That is until the seventh inning. George Iskenderian and Clint Coulter singled to start the inning, prompting Tortugas manager Eli Marrero to summon Michael Sullivan from the Tortugas bullpen.

That brought Blake Allemand to the plate for the Manatees and he bunted one up the third baseline that was fielded and rushed to first by LaValley. The throw sailed, hitting off the glove of Avain Rachal at first. LaValley would’ve been smart to hang on to it, as Allemand beat the throw anyway, but his errant throw allowed Iskenderian and to score, tying the game at two.

“Perfect bunt by Allemand,” said Ayrault. “You can’t get any better than that, I couldn’t have rolled it any better than that. Just took advantage of the error scoring the two.” 

David Denson

David Denson, who was making his debut with the Manatees, followed with an RBI single back up the middle, giving the Manatees a 3-2 lead. “Great to see Denson come up with a big hit for us in his Florida State League debut,” Ayrault said.

“I think the biggest at bat of the night was the (Allemand) bunt,” said Ray. “Not because it was an error, but because he executed. I think to get an offense rolling, you gotta execute the small things, get a few runners on, bunt them over and hit them in.”

Ray continued, “Getting that bunt down was huge because I think he beats it out even if the throw is good and we’re hunting for a big inning there.”  

In the eighth inning, the Manatees were helped by their defense. With two outs, Chad Tromp grounded to Wendell Rijo at short, he made a great backhand grab, with his momentum carrying him away from first base and still got enough on the throw to get the out. It was a highlight reel play for sure and of course, he led off the bottom of the frame against Daytona reliever Brennan Bernardino.

Although Rijo flew out harmlessly, Ray did not. He launched his first home run in professional baseball, deep over the left center field wall, putting the Manatees up, 4-2. It was a 404-foot blast. “I knew I got it good, but at Space Coast you never really know,” Ray said after the game. “Fastball right down the middle and just put a good swing on it.”

Jon Olczak came in to nail down the save, but Daytona did not go away quietly. Rachal reached on a throwing error with one out and went to second on defensive indifference. Shed long singled him home, closing the gap to 4-3. After Trahan struck out, Olczak gave up another hit, before getting LaValley on a called third strike to end it.

For more info: Daytona @ Brevard County boxscore

The Manatees (13-27, 36-72) begin a three game series against Dunedin on Friday. Kodi Medeiros (4-8, 5.26 ERA) will take the mound for the Manatees, against Jon Harris (0-1, 4.26). First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

This article originally appeared on 27OutsBaseball.com on 8/4/16