sfoggi posted on July 24, 2011 20:59
SANFORD, Fla. (July 24, 2011) – The Sanford River Rats came up big in a 5-4 victory over the Winter Haven Loggerheads at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium Sunday night. The win puts the Rats (11-20-1) a half game ahead of the Loggerheads (11-21) in the standings.
“Today was a great day,” River Rats Head Coach Stephen Piercefield said. “The Susan G. Komen Foundation being here provided a little bit of emotion for me because of my family history, but it seemed to also help keep our guys focused on playing the game of baseball. We came out with a loose atmosphere and played the game hard.”
Ray Hanson (UCF) got the start for Sanford and had another strong outing. Through 6 2/3 innings pitched, he struck out just two, but of the 18 other outs he was involved in, 13 were groundouts.
“Ray did a great job coming out and getting us into the seventh inning. He did a tremendous job keeping their hitters off-balance and kept us in the ballgame and ultimately earned the win,” Piercefield said. “He kept his pace where nobody was able to get back on their heels. The infield expected the baseball every time Ray threw it. TJ Gavlik (North Florida) and Devon Hellett (Flagler) did a great job on the left side.”
Sanford scored in the first when Gavlik hit a single to plate James Ramsay (South Florida). Ian MacGeorge (Embry-Riddle) was also able to steal home to give the Rats a 2-0 lead.
Winter Haven got on the board in the top of the third when Justin Burgess (Montevallo) doubled to send Andrew Sterling (Dickinson College) home, but Sanford came up big in the home half of the frame to the tune of four consecutive hits.
“We were able to start the game by being aggressive and that led to our batters getting some fastballs and we were able to cash in on those,” Piercefield said. “Ryan Brnovich (Saint Leo University) led off three innings with three base hits, and getting the leadoff guy on always helps. Tonight we were really able to cash in on guys in scoring position.”
Brnovich hit a first-pitch single to lead off the third, followed by a Blake Boyd (Nova Southeastern) single. Ramsay singled to score Brnovich and a double steal moved Boyd to third and Ramsay to second. MacGeorge then buried the ball against the leftfield wall for a double that allowed Boyd and Ramsay to score and give the Rats a 5-1 lead.
After a no-hit fourth, the Loggerheads added another run in the fifth when Burgess got his second RBI on a chopper to first that allowed Daniel Gonzales (Rice) to score. Two innings later, Gonzales hit a two-run homer to make it a 5-4 game. Adam Maxon (Jacksonville) then took the mound for Sanford and got the final out of the inning.
Maxon pitched the final 2 1/3 innings of the game and was nearly perfect, letting only Gonzales reach first safely on a single.
“It’s a luxury to just use one reliever and again, it starts with the starting pitcher,” Piercefield said. “We were able to let Maxon come into a situation where the tying run was on second base. He was able to work out of it, pitch effectively, and ultimately earn a save.”
Maxon only threw 17 pitches in the game. After a three-up, three-down eighth, he induced two 6-3 grounders in the ninth before giving up his lone hit. Sterling came up for Winter Haven and lofted a ball to Johnny Mazur (Florida Tech) in right, who fielded it after a hop then rifled it to Maxon. Maxon whirled and tossed the ball to catcher Kyle Foti (Flagler) who put the tag on Gonzales in a close play at the plate that ended the game.
“Their coaches and base runner get a lot of credit for making that play as close as it was. We were fortunate enough to put together a relay that ultimately led to the final out,” Piercefield said.
Sanford plays Monday at home in another make-up game as they host the Orlando Freedom (13-20). Sanford trails Orlando in the standings by one game. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m. Brett Allen (Embry-Riddle) is expected to get the start for Sanford.
“Every game from here on out, we have a chance to jump somebody or at least put ourselves in position. Orlando is a good, solid baseball team and it’s going to be a fight,” Piercefield said.
Neil Tredray (Valencia College)