River Rats Fall to Snappers in Home Opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
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0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
SANFORD, Fla. - The Sanford River Rats once again allowed its mistakes to get in its own way as it fell to Orlando Snappers 7-3 on Saturday night.
After giving up 14 walks in last night's game in Orlando, the River Rats' pitching staff issued 10 more across a combined six pitchers.
The game began smoothly for the River Rats in the bottom of the second when Ethan Beal (Rollins) drew a bases-loaded walk that brought in John Dobkowski (Enterprise State).
The Snappers responded in the top of the fourth as Roy Rodriguez (Undecided) smoked an RBI double down the left-field line.
Following that were RBI singles by Logan Chalk (St. Johns River State) and Gavin Gonzalez (Calhoun CC), putting the Snappers up 3-1.
The River Rats responded with a run of their own, thanks to a bloop single into right field from Miguel Gonzalez (Daytona State), cutting the deficit to 3-2.
The walk troubles boiled over in the top of the sixth, with two of the five walks in the inning leading to Snappers runs.
Chalk added to his stellar night with an RBI infield single, beating the throw from the shortstop.
The River Rats tallied one more run in the bottom of the sixth on Miguel Gonzalez's second RBI single of the night.
The scoring concluded in the top of the seventh when a double steal by Rodriguez and Santiago Busot (St. Johns River State) led to a throwing error, allowing Busot to cross home and make it a 7-3 ballgame.
Busot recorded five stolen bases during the game, in addition to two hits and two walks for the Snappers' shortstop.
The loss is charged to Gabriel Vargas (St. Pete College), who pitched well early but began to struggle and was pulled after 3.2 innings.
Angel Mendoza (Seminole State) earned the win for the Snappers, coming in to throw three innings of relief.
The unusual three-inning save went to Mason Resmondo (Seminole State), who started the game in left field but was brought in to close it out for the Snappers.
The River Rats will get a day off before hosting the DeLand Suns on Monday night.
Alejandro Landers (Elon)