Miracle Moments

Ft. Myers is 37-29, in first place in the FSL South, four games ahead of Charlotte.  Ft. Myers has clinched the division in the second half.

Friday

The Miracle lost a 4-2 lead in the ninth, surrendering four runs and falling to the Jupiter Hammerheads 6-4 in Ft. Myers.  Ft. Myers scored in the first when Ben Revere singled, went to third on an error, and scored on a fielder's choice.  Jupiter tied it in the second on a single, an error, and a ground out.  Both teams had threats, but there was no more scoring until the sixth, when the Hammerheads put two singles around a walk to go ahead 2-1.  In the eighth, Mark Dolenc singled, Chris Parmelee reached on a two-base error, Joe Benson was intentionally walked to load the bases, a sacrifice fly by Deibinson Romero scored one, Nicholas Romero walked to re-load the bases, and a two-run single by Jair Fernandez.  It was a three-run rally for the Miracle, putting them ahead 4-2.  In the ninth, however, Louis Ott led off with a homer to cut the lead to 4-3, and a hit batsman and a two-run homer by Tim Torres gave Jupiter a 5-4 lead.  A single, a wild pitch, and another single gave the Hammerheads an insurance run.  Ft. Myers got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but did nothing further.  The Miracle had only four hits, but received six walks and Jupiter made three errors.  Ft. Myers only scored four because the team left nine runners on base and went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.  No Miracle player had more than one hit.  Santos Arias gave up an unearned run on five hits in five innings, striking out five.  Michael Allen pitched a perfect inning of relief.  Blair Erickson took the loss.

Saturday

David Bromberg and two relief pitchers shut down the Jupiter offense as Ft. Myers won a pitchers' duel from Jupiter 2-1.  The teams combined for only one hit in the first three innings.  In the fourth, a triple and a single put the Hammerheads in front 1-0, but the Miracle got the run back in the bottom of the fourth when Evan Bigley hit a solo homer.  After Jupiter left runners on second and third in the top of the fifth, Ft. Myers went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Joe Benson was hit by a pitch, went to third on a Nicholas Romero single, and scored on a single by Chris Cates.  From there, the Miracle pitchers had to take over, and they did.  The Hammerheads threatened, putting runners on second and third in the seventh and loading the bases in the eighth, but they were kept off the scoreboard the rest of the way.  Estarlin De Los Santos had two hits.  Bromberg got the win, giving up a run on three hits in five innings and striking out eight.  Henry Arias pitched 2.2 scoreless innings and Matthew Williams was unscored upon in 1.1 innings.

Sunday

The Miracle appeared to have lost this game late, but came back to pull out a 3-2 victory over Jupiter.  The Hammerheads scored first, getting a second-inning run on a hit batsman, a single, and a ground out.  Ft. Myers put runners on first and second with one out in the third, but did not score until the fifth, when Deibinson Romero singled, went to second on a walk to Nicholas Romero, took third on a grounder, and scored on a passed ball.  While each team had threats, there was no more scoring in regulation, so the score remained tied at one after nine.  In the tenth, Ryan Curry hit a two-out homer, and Jupiter took a 2-1 lead.  In the bottom of the tenth, however, Nicholas Romero got a leadoff walk and Rene Leveret singled.  A bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out, and an intentional walk to Estarlin De Los Santos loaded the bases.  A force out at home preserved the Hammerheads lead for a moment, but Mark Dolenc singled to tie the score and Evan Bigley singled to drive in the winning run.  Dolenc and Deibinson Romero each had two hits.  Michael Tarsi pitched seven innings, giving up only one run on five hits.  Michael Allen pitched a scoreless inning, and Joe Testa got the win in relief.

Monday

League-wide off day

Tuesday

Rained out

Wednesday

Game 1

Ft. Myers scored eight runs in the fifth, and that was all they needed to defeat the St. Lucie Mets 8-4 in St. Lucie.  The Mets had the early lead, scoring one in the first on a Joshua Satin homer and two in the second on a double and a Brahiam Maldonado homer.  The Miracle had only two hits in the first four innings, but broke out in a big way in the fifth.  The inning opened with Deibinson Romero reaching on an error, and Jair Fernandez followed with a walk.  A single by Chris Cates loaded the bases, a Ben Revere single scored one, and a sacrifice fly by Estarlin De Los Santos made the score 3-2.  Chris Parmelee walked to load the bases, and Mark Dolenc followed with a bases-clearing double to put Ft. Myers ahead 5-3.  Joe Benson then singled in Dolenc to make the score 6-3, and Deibinson Romero, batting for the second time in the inning, hit a two-run homer to put the Miracle up 8-3.  St. Lucie put two runners on in the fifth and again in the sixth, but did not score until the seventh when they got a walk, a single, and two productive outs to make the final score look a little better.  Revere and Dolenc each had two hits, with Dolenc driving in three runs.  Tyler Robertson got the win, giving up three runs on six hits in eight innings.  Bobby Lanigan pitched a scoreless inning of relief.

Game 2

All the runs came in the last inning as St. Lucie gained a split of the doubleheader by defeating the Miracle 2-1.  Ft. Myers loaded the bases in the second, but a ground out ended the inning.  Each team put two runners on in the third, and the Miracle did it again in the fourth and the sixth, but there was still no scoring.  In the seventh, the first two batters produced the first run of the game, as Evan Bigley singled and Chris Parmelee doubled, but Ft. Myers was unable to score more than once.  It cost them, as the Mets came back in the bottom of the seventh, scoring twice on a double, a single-and-error to tie the game, a ground out, and another error which allowed the winning run to score.  Bigley, Ben Revere, and Rene Leveret each had two hits for the Miracle.  Steven Hirschfeld took the loss, pitching 6.1 innings and giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits.

Thursday

Ft. Myers again lost by one run, falling to St. Lucie 4-3.  The Miracle took the early lead, getting a first inning run when Ben Revere singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Mark Dolenc single.  The Mets tied it in the second on a hit batsman, a wild pitch, and a single.  Ft. Myers took the lead back in the third when Revere singled and Estarline De Los Santos doubled.  St. Lucie took its first lead in the bottom of the third on a single, two walks, and another single.  There was no more scoring until the eighth, when the Mets got an insurance run on a single, a wild pitch, a ground out, and another wild pitch.  In the ninth, Dolenc reached on a strikeout/wild pitch, and Chris Parmelee singled to put runners on first and second.  With two out, Rene Leveret singled to drive in a run and put the tying run on third, but a strikeout ended the game.  Revere and Parmelee each had two hits for the Miracle.  David Bromberg took the loss, giving up three runs on six hits in five innings.  He struck out seven.  Michael Allen pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

Statistical notes:  Miracle batters are third in runs, sixth in doubles, third in triples, and tied for eighth in home runs.  They are first in walks and fifth in stolen bases.  Miracle batters are first in OBP, fifth in SLG, tied for first in AVG, and third in OPS.

Miracle pitchers are second in ERA, fifth in fewest hits allowed, tied for fourth in fewest home runs allowed, and seventh in fewest walks allowed.  They are second in strikeouts and fourth in WHIP.

Ben Revere is tied for second in runs (73), first in hits (142), third in stolen bases (44), first in caught stealing (17), fifth in OBP (.371), and second in AVG (.311).  Chris Parmelee is tied for fifth in doubles (27), tied for second in home runs (16), second in RBIs (73), first in walks (65), and fourth in OPS (.816).  Steve Singleton is fourth in triples (8).  Estarlin De Los Santos is tied for fifth in triples (7).  Mark Dolenc is tied for fifth in AVG (.290).  David Bromberg is tied for second in wins (13), fifth in ERA (2.70), tied for fourth in starts (26), tied for second in shutouts (1), fourth in innings (153.1), tied for first in most hit batsmen (14), and first in strikeouts (148).  Steve Hirschfeld is second in ERA (2.23), tied for third in complete games (2), tied for second in shutouts (1), and tied for first in WHIP (1.06).  Tyler Robertson is tied for fourth in starts (26).  Glen Perkins is tied for second in shutouts (1).  Blair Erickson is tied for fifth in saves (15).

Notes:  Yangervis Solarte has been promoted from Ft. Myers to New Britain...David Bromberg was named FSL Pitcher of the Year...Jeff Smith was named FSL manager of the year...The Miracle won the FSL's Municipality Award, which is given to the best city or county operated sports turf crew in the league.