Sports Lowdown

Trey York's first Advanced-A hit The Clearwater Threshers helped bolster their playoff position, picking up a doubleheader sweep of the Manatees on Tuesday, ending a marathon night of baseball. The Threshers won game one, 2-1 and completed the sweep with a 3-2 win in game two. Following the suspension of Monday night’s game, in the bottom of the second, the two teams were scheduled to resume play at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday. That didn’t happen, the teams sat through another 2 hour, 50-minute rain delay, before finally being able to pick up the first game, in the bottom of the second inning. Phil Bickford started the first game Monday, getting the first two Threshers out before walking the bases loaded. Jiandido Tromp bailed him out with a foul out to third. The Threshers were able to get on the board, just prior to the suspension Monday, thanks to a single by Carlos Tocci. That was the third single of the inning and gave the Threshers a 1-0 lead. The rain came at that p...

Blake Allemand The Brevard County Manatees suffered their 90 th loss of 2016 on Thursday, dropping a 5-2 decision to the Clearwater Threshers at Bright House Field. The Manatees offense managed only four hits, three against Threshers starter Elniery Garcia. Manatees starter Bubba Derby pitched well for the most part, but ran into trouble in the first inning.  Zack Coppola walked and Josh Tobias and Carlos Tocci followed with singles, loading the bases. That brought Aaron Brown to the plate and he hit a high-chopper over the head of Mitch Ghelfi at first, scoring two runs. Derby gave up two hits in the second, but got out of the inning, thanks in large part to a double play.  Meanwhile, his counterpart, Garcia, had not allowed a baserunner through 3.2 innings retiring the first 11 batters he faced. Blake Allemand changed that with one swing of the bat, a solo long ball, making it a 2-1 game, after four. After the two hits Derby allowed in the second, he wen...

Devin Williams The Clearwater Threshers did all their damage in the fourth inning on Tuesday, en route to a 3-0 win over the Brevard County Manatees in the opener of a three-game series at Bright House Field. Each team had just four hits in the game, but Clearwater made theirs count, against Manatees reliever Devin Williams. Williams was the scheduled starter, but Kodi Medeiros got the call and pitched two innings of no-hit baseball, walking one and striking out two. He threw 16 of his 29 pitches for strikes. Two of the four Manatees hits came in the third inning on back-to-back singles by Mitch Ghelfi and Blake Allemand against Threshers starter Brandon Leibrandt. Williams (0-2) came in and retired the side in order in the third, but Clearwater got to him in the fourth. Carlos Tocci led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch. Chace Numata grounded out, moving him to third and he rode home on a single by Josh Tobias. That was an especially difficult hit...

Kodi Medeiros Brevard County Manatees pitcher Kodi Medeiros had his best outing of the season on Sunday, helping his team salvage the final game of a three-game set at Clearwater, winning by the score of 3-0. It was a much needed solid outing for the 20-year-old Medeiros, who has struggled for much of this season, his first at the Advanced-A level. Medeiros (4-7) got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the third, giving up a single to Chace Numata and a wild pitch. He got the next two outs before walking Drew Stankiewicz. He got out of the inning by getting Scott Kingery to ground out. The Manatees (2-8, 25-53) got on the board first in the top of the fourth, against Clearwater starter John Richy. Elvis Rubio hit a one out double and scored on a Clint Coulter single, despite getting a stop sign from Manatees manager Joe Ayrault. Rubio caught a break, as the throw home was offline and the Manatees were up 1-0. Coulter went to second on the throw home, but was eventuall...

George Iskenderian There were some offensive fireworks at Bright House Field on Saturday, as a crowd of 6,201 fans watched their Clearwater Threshers and the Brevard County Manatees hit four home runs and combine to score 13 runs in an 8-5 Threshers win. Brevard County (1-8, 24-53) got home runs from George Iskenderian and Clint Coulter, but could not climb out of an early hole. The Manatees defensive struggles didn’t help, as the team committed three errors. Manatees starter Eric Hanhold continued to struggle and continued to be on the wrong end of things. He suffered his 10 th loss of the season. The Manatees did get off to a good start, scoring a run in the top of the first. Omar Garcia singled to start the game against Clearwater hurler Shane Watson. Elvis Rubio’s single two outs later, made it 1-0 Manatees. Much like in Friday night’s game, Clearwater put four runs on the board in the bottom of the first. Cord Sandberg singled and Mitch Walding singled to Coult...

Blake Allemand Jiandido Tromp knocked in four runs for the Clearwater Threshers on Friday, helping the Clearwater Threshers beat the visiting Brevard County Manatees 6-3 at Bright House Field. Tromp did the majority of his damage in the bottom of the first, driving a three-run homer over the left field wall and into the bullpen against Manatees starter Bubba Derby. His homer followed an RBI single by Mitch Walding, giving the home team a 4-0 lead after one inning. Carlos Tocci added to the lead with a two-out solo homer, making it a 5-0 game after two. It was not the start the Manatees were hoping for, after getting their first win of the second half in walk-off fashion on Wednesday night, against the Daytona Tortugas. Derby (5-6) came out for the fifth inning, but walked Scott Kingery and gave up a double to Kyle Martin before being lifted for Clint Terry. After a walk to Walding, Terry gave up a sacrifice fly to Tromp, giving the Threshers a 6-0 lead. The run wa...

Blake Allemand The Clearwater Threshers scored three runs in the top of the fifth, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead and they never looked back, beating the Brevard County Manatees 7-4, in front of 1,320 fans at Space Coast Stadium. Clearwater got to Brevard County starter Jon Perrin in the top of the first. Carlos Tocci hit a line drive back to the mound to start things, Perrin picked it up but Tocci’s speed got him the single. Scott Kingery and Mitch Walding followed with singles of their own, loading the bases. Zach Green grounded into a force out, bringing a run home and one out later, Chace Numata singled, to make it a 2-0 game. “Tough luck to start the game,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault. I know he (Perrin) was upset about the comebacker, he couldn’t make a play on it.” Considering the inning started with the bases loaded and nobody out, that inning had the potential to be disastrous and Perrin allowed only the two runs. The Manatees (23-46, 0-1) threa...

Gage Smith It took three batters for the Clearwater Threshers to score the winning run Thursday, in a 1-0 win over the Brevard County Manatees in front of 1,093 fans at Space Coast Stadium, as the team kicked off Outdoors Weekend. Clearwater leadoff man Scott Kingery drilled a triple off the right field wall against Manatees starter Jon Perrin. After Perrin struck out Malquin Canelo, Carlos Tocci plated Kingery with a sacrifice fly to left. The Threshers would go on to get two more hits against Perrin the rest of the game. Two of the three were for extra bases. The Manatees (16-31) had put 13 runs on the board against the Threshers over the previous two nights, but on Thursday, their hot bats were put in the deep freeze by Clearwater starter Elniery Garcia. He pitched six innings, scattering four hits, all of those were singles. Brevard County never had a baserunner get to third.  “We just couldn’t scratch one across, he’s a good pitcher,” Manatees manager Joe Ay...

Elvis Rubio For the second straight night, the Brevard County Manatees used a four-run inning to beat the visiting Clearwater Threshers at Space Coast Stadium. On Tuesday night  it was a four-run fifth  and on Wednesday, it was the second inning that supplied more than enough for the Manatees to post a second consecutive victory.  “After the win last night to come in and have that big inning, put up for runs was big,” said Manatees skipper Joe Ayrault. “It’s always a good feeling to get the lead and put the hammer down.” The hammer came down quickly on Clearwater starter Ranfi Casimiro (5-3) in that second frame. Fidel Pena started it with an infield single and  Elvis Rubio  followed with a two-run bomb over the wall in left. Dustin Houle hit a high chopper and beat the throw to first. Jose Cuas then reached on an error, before Casimiro got Malik Collymore on strikes for the first out. Johnny Davis who extended his on-base streak to 31 consecu...

Bubba Derby The Brevard County Manatees started their six-game homestand on a positive note Tuesday night, beating the Clearwater Threshers 6-4 at Space Coast Stadium.  “It was a fun night overall,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault. “Guys played good on the defensive side and turned a few double plays in the ballgame, it was a good night.”  Those double plays were key in helping Manatees starter  Bubba Derby  get out of trouble. He allowed back-to-back singles to Scott Kingery and Andrew Pullin to start the game. After getting Carlos Tocci to fly out, he induced a double play grounder off the bat of Kyle Martin. Johnny Davis, as he’s done for most of the season got the Manatees off on the right foot with a walk in the bottom of the first. The free pass extended Davis’ on-base streak to 30 consecutive games. “He’s been doing a great job,” Ayrault said of Davis. “Putting the ball in play, working deep in counts and taking his walks. It was good to see...

George Iskenderian The Brevard County Manatees watched two early leads disappear on Sunday at Clearwater, as the Threshers completed the three-game sweep with a 5-2 win and sent the Manatees to their seventh consecutive loss. The Manatees (3-15) opened the scoring in the top of the second against Threshers’ starter Will Morris , with back-to-back singles by George Iskenderian and Greg McCall. Jose Cuas singled one out later to plate Iskenderian and give the visitors a 1-0 lead. It was the first lead the Manatees held in the series, but it didn’t last long. Clearwater (13-5) would strand runners at second and third in the top of the second, against Manatees’ starter Kodi Medeiros . They would not come up empty in the third inning. Kingery led off with a double and went to third on a fly out by Cord Sandberg. Medeiros got Carlos Tocci on strikes and was one out from ending the inning. That was until Kyle Martin laced a double over the head of Brandon Diaz in left field, sc...

Omar Garcia The Brevard County Manatees put 11 hits on the board at Clearwater on Saturday, but couldn’t get the big knock they needed in 6-1 loss to the Threshers, in front of 7,260 fans at Bright House Field. The loss is the Manatees’ sixth in a row. Clearwater put a big two-out rally together in the first inning, with Brevard County starting pitcher Angel Ventura allowing two walks and a wild pitch early and then giving up RBI singles to Mitch Walding and Zach Green, making it a 2-0 ballgame. Drew Stankiewicz followed with an RBI double and Chace Numata’s two-run single capped the scoring at 5-0, after one.  The Manatees had their chances throughout the night, but proceeded to leave 14 men on base, many of them against Clearwater starter Tyler Viza. He was constantly able to find the pitch he needed and his defense did a good job behind him, much of the night. Ventura (0-2) pitched well after that first inning, retiring 10 in a row at one point....

Johnny Davis The Clearwater Threshers squeaked out a 2-1 victory over the visiting Brevard County Manatees on Friday night, thanks to a bases loaded walk to Scott Kingery that scored pinch-runner Drew Stankiewicz with the eventual winning run. The Manatees (3-13) had just five hits in the game, as the offense continued to struggle. They didn’t have many chances against Elniery Garcia, who went seven innings, allowing just three hits. His team got him the lead in the bottom of the first. Carlos Tocci, Kyle Martin and Mitch Walding hit consecutive two out singles against Brevard County starter Brandon Woodruff and took a 1-0 lead. Brevard County tied things in the fourth inning with Johnny Davis drawing a leadoff walk. He stole second despite the throw beating him to the bag, thanks to a nice slide around the tag of the second baseman Kingery. Angel Ortega bunted him over to third and he scored on Clint Coulter’s grounder to shortstop, which was misplayed. Coulter was cred...