Bradenton Win Third Straight in Dominant Fashion

Bradenton, Fla.--- The Marauders (35-22, 70-52) and the Palm Beach Cardinals (25-30, 62-58) for the third game of a five-game series on a perfect Saturday night for baseball on the Suncoast. Bradenton fell behind early but turned the game into a near rout in the latter stages as they marched to a 9-3 victory.

Bradenton’s starter, Owen Kellington, tossed four solid innings, giving up three runs, two of them earned. At the same time, he struck out 5 of the 19 men he faced in the outing.

The Young Bucs were able to load the bases in the bottom of the first inning with only one out but were unable to convert on the early golden scoring chance. The almost four thousand fans in attendance would have to wait till the third inning for both offenses to come alive.

In the top of the third, the Cards managed to force in a pair of runs thanks to an RBI single and a throwing error that gave Palm Beach their first and only lead of the series… it would not last long.

The Marauders pushed a pair of runners into scoring position with two outs in the top of the third inning with Deivis Nadal stepping into the box. The utility man, who is one of the few players still in Bradenton from the opening night roster, has come into his best form of the season with clutch hits galore; this opportunity was no different.

With Deivis down 1-2 in the count, he dropped a floating liner directly on the foul line in shallow right field, bringing both base runners into score tying the game at 2-2.

With Nadal planted at second, Sergio Campana plunked a flare into shallow center field. Deivis flew home from second base to put the home side up 3-2, but the Marauders were not done yet.

Omar Alfonzo got what would be a heroic night off to a fine start with a double off the leftfield wall to bring in yet another run with two outs in the inning to make it 4-2 Bradenton after three innings.

The Cardinals clawed a run back in the top of the fourth inning to pull the score back to 4-3 thanks to a solo blast, but this was the last time the Cards would have anything to cheer about offensively.

The Marauders put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning when Lonnie White Jr. led off the contest with a solo shot to left to make it 5-3. With the homer, the 2023 Marauders have now hit more home runs than any other year in franchise history, with 110 this season.

With still just one out in the sixth, the Marauders loaded the bases for Omar Alfonzo, who worked a nine-pitch AB before slapping a bases-clearing triple down the left field line to make it 8-3 in favor of the hometown boys. Javier Rivas capped off the frame with a sacrifice fly to send the game to the final three innings with the Young Bucs up 9-3.

The Marauders bullpen effort from Carlos Jimenez, Jaden Woods, and Magdiel Cotto marched the Young Bucs across the finish line in front of an electric crowd to a 9-3 triumph over Palm Beach.

With eight games to go in the season, the Marauders sit three games outside of playoffs.

The series finale and our final home games of the year on Sunday will be a pair of seven-inning games beginning at 11:00 a.m.