Sports Lowdown

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 Da...

Corey Ray The Brevard County Manatees managed just two hits in a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Yankees, at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Both hits came off the bat of leadoff man  Corey Ray , who singled in the fourth and hit a home run in the seventh, breaking up the shutout. The Yankees started the scoring in the third inning, against Manatees starter  Cody Ponce .  Devyn Bolasky  tripled with one out and came home on a single off the bat of  Wes Wilson . After Ponce got the second out,  Jeff Hendrix  doubled, putting runners at the corners.  Gleyber Torres  followed with a walk to load the bases and  Trey Amburgey ’s single made it 2-0. When all was said and done, the Yankees sent eight to the plate, had four hits and a walk. They added some insurance, with two more in the fifth. Wilson singled and  Jorge Mateo  walked. A fly out by Jeff Hendrix got Wilson to third and Mateo later stole second. Torres plated them both ...

Corey Ray The Lakeland Flying Tigers completed a series sweep on Thursday, beating the Brevard County Manatees 7-4 in front of 1,162 at Space Coast Stadium. This was the final game between these two teams in 2016, with Lakeland winning the season series 14-4. The Manatees (14-40, 37-85) got on the board first when Corey Ray led off the bottom of the first with a double and came home on an Elvis Rubio double. Rubio came home thanks to two wild pitches by Flying Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull. Lakeland tied it in the top of the second against Manatees starter Devin Williams. Anthony Pereira had an RBI double and Rashad Brown hit a ball that dropped into short left field, with three Manatees in pursuit. That scored Pereira with the tying run. The Manatees regained the lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI double by David Denson. It was Denson’s first RBI since his debut with Brevard County 14 games ago. That lead was short-lived, as Lakeland picked up two more runs...

Corey Ray HR Swing Milwaukee Brewers 2016 first round draft pick Corey Ray hit his first home run as a pro on Thursday, exactly one month after making his professional baseball debut with the Brevard County Manatees. Ray said after that game, that he knew the expectations were high for him, but he was not worried about it. “Everything will take care of itself. Whatever happens, happens,” he said. Well, on Thursday, his first round-tripper happened and it ended up being the decisive run in a 4-3 Manatees victory over Daytona, at Space Coast Stadium. “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.” The home run came in the eighth inning against Tortugas reliever Brennan Bernardino and was measured at 404-feet. Ray led off the bottom of the first with a double and drew a walk in the sixth, before hitting the home run. He was the only Manatee to reach base, before the team...

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 li...

Corey Ray's Leaping Catch (5th inning) Saturday night turned into Sunday morning at Space Coast Stadium, as the Dunedin Blue Jays and Brevard County Manatees played two, with a two hour, 45-minute rain delay thrown in. When all was said and done, the Manatees were their own worst enemy, as errors directly affected the outcome of both games. Dunedin took game one 1-0 and game two, by the score of 4-3. In game one, Kodi Medeiros walked the first batter he faced in Anthony Alford, but he was caught stealing. Jorge Flores drew a walk and Gunnar Heidt hit one to third that was dropped by George Iskenderian. He picked it up, but rushed the throw and it sailed. Both runners were safe at first and second. One out later, Jonathan Davis ripped a single to left, scoring Flores and putting the Blue Jays up 1-0. That was the downside of the defensive spectrum for the Manatees, but Corey Ray showed the upside in the fourth inning. Ryan McBroom hit one to right center that was sink...

Cody Ponce Fresh off his Florida State League Pitcher of the Week award on Monday, Brevard County Manatees pitcher Cody Ponce was on his game Friday night, getting his first win of the season in a 4-3 triumph over the visiting Jupiter Hammerheads. Ponce (1-2) got off to a great start, striking out the side in the first inning and backing that up with a strikeouts and two fly outs in the second inning. He got some offensive support in the bottom of the second, when the Manatees tallied twice against Jupiter starter Luis Castillo. With one out, Elvis Rubio singled and went to third on a Blake Allemand knock. The throw to third from right fielder John Norwood skipped away, allowing Allemand to cruise into second base. After Dustin Houle walked to load the bases, Jose Cuas drilled one to left, scoring two. The Manatees had first and second and were in prime position to add on, but a strikeout and a ground out put an end to that. “He’s one of the better starters in the l...

Corey Ray The Brevard County Manatees went into Tuesday’s game with the Dunedin Blue Jays having won back-to-back contests, but they were unable to continue that streak, as the Blue Jays scored three runs in two separate innings, on their way to a 6-1 win at Space Coast Stadium. Corey Ray, who made his professional debut with the Manatees on Monday, driving in the winning run in a 3-0 victory , earned another first on Tuesday, when he lined a single to left against Blue Jays reliever Jose Fernandez. “Definitely a highlight,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault. “I’ll doctor it up, do some writing on it for him, but pretty cool to see him get his first professional hit, first of many.” Dunedin (9-4, 42-40) got on the board in the top of the second against Manatees starter Jon Perrin. After Ryan McBroom singled to lead things off and one out later, Andy Fermin singled. After recording the second out, Perrin hit Dickie Joe Thon to load the bases, bringing the ninth hitter in...

Corey Ray 7/4/16 Milwaukee Brewers 2016 first round pick Corey Ray made his professional debut Monday night with the Florida State League’s Brevard County Manatees. As if your pro debut isn’t big enough, Ray got to do it on July Fourth, in front of a sellout crowd of 5,760 fans. “I thought there would be jitters, but my teammates kept me calm,” Ray said after the game. “They reminded me that it’s just a game and it felt good to get out there in front of a great crowd. They told me not to do too much, just to keep it simple and remember that it’s just baseball, the game I’ve been playing for 20 years.” Ray officially went 0-for-3 on Monday, but he drove in what proved to be the winning run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh inning of an eventual 3-0 win over the Dunedin Blue Jays. The fifth overall pick in this years’ draft immediately made the jump to Advanced-A, skipping both rookie ball and Low-A. “I haven’t seen live pitching in so long, I’m just wanting to get up...

Cody Ponce The Brevard County Manatees celebrated the Fourth of July with a 3-0 win over the visiting Dunedin Blue Jays at Space Coast Stadium. The sold out crowd of 5,760 got to see 2015 second round pick Cody Ponce throw five shutout innings and outfielder Corey Ray, drafted No. 5 overall in this years’ draft, drive in the winning run in his professional baseball debut. Ponce got the start and had his most impressive outing of the season, throwing five innings and giving up only two hits. Unfortunately, he left in a scoreless game and did not qualify for the victory. Ponce ended the night with five strikeouts. He one in each of the first three innings and struck out two more in his fifth and final inning of work. “It was an outstanding outing, worked ahead in the count and put hitters away when he needed to,” said Manatees manager Joe Ayrault. It was a solid showing.” Adding to the stellar night for Ponce was the fact that he did not walk a batter and threw 37 of his 6...