Williams Earns First Victory with Manatees


Devin Williams
Devin Williams
The Brevard County Manatees got their last home series of the season off on the right foot, snapping a seven-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Daytona Tortugas on Friday.
Starting pitcher Devin Williams was impressive for Brevard County, throwing 5.2 innings and picking up his first Advanced-A win.

“He’s got good stuff and the way he carries himself, really showed me something,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault.  “He’s very confident.”

The one inning that Williams ran into trouble was the second. He hit Aristides Aquino and then gave up back-to-back singles to Juan Duran and Reydel Medina, loading the bases. He then proceeded to walk Blake Butler, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead. He bounced back to get Chad Tromp to ground into a run-scoring double play and the final run came home on an error by Mitch Ghelfi at first base, giving Daytona a three-spot.

The Manatees (16-51, 39-96) did all their scoring in the bottom of the third, against Daytona starter Jonathan Crawford. Malik Collymore singled and stole second, one of four bases the Manatees stole on the night. Corey Ray walked and Mitch Ghelfi followed with an RBI double. Ray then scored on a wild pitch and a single by Blake Allemand plated Ghelfi, tying the game at three.

After Trey York grounded into a double play, Elvis Rubio drew a walk and promptly stole second. That stolen base would be key, because Wendell Rijo singled Rubio home moments later, with the lead run.

Corey Ray
Corey Ray
“A couple big hits in there and guys were aggressive on the bases,” said Ayrault. “A nice night for Allemand, he’s been swinging a hot bat and doing a nice job for us since coming back from Wisconsin.”

Williams (1-2) struck out the side in the fourth and worked around an error, a hit, a double steal and a walk in the fifth. With the bases loaded, he got the FSL Player of the year, Aquino to fly out ending the inning.

Williams got the first two outs in the sixth, before walking Butler. Ayrault went to get him after that. Clint Terry came in and got Tromp to fly out, ending the inning.

“His last inning, I think his 90th pitch was 90 miles an hour,” said Ayrault of Williams. “He threw five pitches in the sixth inning at 95. He got stronger as the game went on and was really locked in tonight.”

Williams gave up just four hits and two earned runs in his 5.2 innings of work. He walked three and struck out seven, throwing 65 of his 103 pitches for strikes.

Terry had a good night in relief, giving up a double in the eighth and two singles in the ninth. He struck out one in his 2.2 innings of work and left with runners at first and third in the ninth. Jon Olczak came in and struck out Blake Trahan and Shed Long to end the game, picking up his ninth save

For more info: Daytona @ Brevard County boxscore

This was the Manatees first win since August 24 and the first home win since August 4. “This was a nice win, but they’re all big,” said Ayrault. 

Allemand finished the night 3-for-4 with an RBI and Ray added two hits, after getting two hits in a loss on Thursday, at Daytona.
Allemand & Rijo
Rijo & Allemand



The series continues Saturday night at Space Coast Stadium. Phil Bickford is the scheduled starter for the Manatees. First pitch will be at 6:35 p.m. with the final fireworks show of the season, to follow. 


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