sfoggi posted on June 08, 2011 21:14
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (June 8, 2011) – In a rematch of yesterday’s game, the Winter Haven Loggerheads notched another win against the Sanford River Rats taking a 7-4 victory on Wednesday night at Chain of Lakes Park.
What looked like a replay of the night before, the Sanford River Rats (1-4) put an early run on the board. Designated hitter Johnny Mazur (Florida Tech) made his way around the bases on two passed balls and a stolen base after reaching on a fielder’s choice.
In the home half of the inning, Winter Haven (3-2) matched up against the Rats and tied the score, 1-1, as lead off batter Andrew Sterling (Dickinson College) scored on a groundout to third base after reaching by way of walk.
It was a pitcher’s duel in the next three and a half innings, as each frame saw no more than four batters each. Newly named Loggerhead pitcher Jacob Newberry (High Point) picked up the win dealing six complete innings on the mound and recording a game-high six strikeouts.
In the bottom of the fourth, the bats came alive for Winter Haven as the Loggerheads put up a four-spot to take a 5-1 lead.
Second baseman Kevin Clements (Trinity) was the first to cross the plate for the Loggerheads reaching on a single and advancing to second on a Sterling single. Clements then moved over to third on a Michael Heller (Florida) knock to load the bases. Third baseman Kyle Campbell (Stetson) then drove in Clements on an RBI single to give Winter Haven the 2-1 advantage.
Two batters later, with left fielder Sam Halpern (Barry) at the plate, the Loggerheads scored three runs for the 5-1 lead. Halpern singled up the middle and made his way to third as the Sanford centerfielder misplayed the ball allowing for a two-base error to clear the bases.
Sanford would make up for the mistake in the following two innings scoring two runs in the top of the sixth and a lone run in the seventh to come within one of the Loggerheads, 5-4.
The bottom of the eighth would the deciding frame as Loggerheads pitcher Patrick Camporini (Georgetown) would deal a 1-2-3 inning keeping the Rats from putting a run on the board. Winter Haven would score the final two runs of the ball game with Halpern and Chris Pagliarulo (Boston College) crossing the plate in the bottom half.
Freshman Jeff Dally (UCF) would see action in the final inning of the game dealing another 1-2-3 inning for the Loggerheads to capture the save.
Halpern led the Loggerheads going 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and a run scored. Heller and Clements also had two hits and a run scored for Winter Haven.
Charged with the loss for Sanford was starting pitcher JR Edwards (Lehigh) tossing 4 2/3 innings. Edwards fanned a team-high five batters. Right fielder James Ramsay (South Florida) led the Rats with two hits, a run scored, and a stolen base.
The Loggerheads will return to Chain of Lakes Park tomorrow (June 9) afternoon as they host the Orlando Freedom for Teacher's Night. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.