Mighty Mussels win two of three against Blue Jays
Mussels drop series finale 7-1 to Blue Jays in 11 innings
FORT MYERS — The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels fell 7-1 in 11 innings to the Dunedin Blue Jays in the series finale at Hammond Stadium Sunday.
Sam Rochard made his Florida State League debut, getting the start on the mound for Fort Myers (45-55, 18-18).
Dunedin (48-49, 14-18) got on the board against Rochard in the top of the second inning. Brock Tibbitts led off the inning with a single and later scored on a two-out double by Austin Smith to give the Blue Jays an early 1-0 lead.
Rochard allowed one run on four hits, and struck out three across three-plus innings of work.
Like Rochard, Will Armbruester made his Mussel debut Sunday. Armbruester entered out of the Mussels’ bullpen in the top of the fourth, and recorded all three outs in the inning.
Armbruester faced the minimum in the fifth, before recording the first out of the sixth and seeing his outing come to an end. He tossed 2.1 scoreless innings and picked up a pair of strikeouts.
Anthony Narvaez took over with one out in the top of the sixth and induced a ground ball double play to end the frame. His outing ended with two outs in the top of the seventh inning, after striking out one across 1.1 innings of work.
Zander Sechrist was the fourth Mussel pitcher of the afternoon, and needed just one pitch to retire the final batter of the seventh.
In the home half of the frame, Bryan Acuna reached on a one-out single. Later in the inning, Luis Hernandez’s first professional hit was a single to center, which scored Acuna and tied the game 1-1.
Sechrist went seven up and seven down before exiting in the top of the 10th. Julio Bonilla took over on the mound and retired all three men he faced.
The Mussels got two on with one out in the bottom of the inning but couldn’t score, which sent the game to the 11th.
Tyler Stasiowski (2-1) was the sixth pitcher of the day for Fort Myers and didn’t record an out in the top of the 11th. Dunedin took a 2-1 lead on an RBI double by Kendry Chirinos off Stasiowski, who then issued back-to-back walks before giving way to Jakob Hall.
Hall issued a third consecutive walk by Fort Myers pitching, as the Blue Jays extended their margin to 3-1. After a sacrifice fly from Tucker Toman, Tibbetts lashed a double to left center to add to the tally and push the lead to 6-1.
Dunedin added an RBI groundout to make it six runs in the inning and take a 7-1 lead to the bottom of the 11th.
After an off day today, the Mussels return to action at Hammond Stadium to begin a six-game series against the Clearwater Threshers Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m., with coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.
Diaw’s walk-off single lifts Mussels over Blue Jays, 3-2
FORT MYERS — Khadim Diaw’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning pushed the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels past the Dunedin Blue Jays 3-2 Saturday night at Hammond Stadium.
Fort Myers (45-54, 18-17) trailed Dunedin (47-49, 13-18) 2-1 entering the bottom of the 10th inning. Ryan Sprock was the automatic base runner at second to begin the frame, and advanced to third after a ground out by Shai Robinson.
JP Smith II was then hit by a pitch to put runners at the corners. He was then replaced at first by pinch runner Dameury Pena.
With runners at the corners and one out, Twins first round pick Marek Houston slashed an opposite field single to right to plate Sprock, move Pena to third and tie the game 2-2.
Khadim Diaw was the next man up, and he delivered the walk-off single on the eighth pitch of his at bat to score Pena and give the Mussels a 3-2 victory.
The Mussels are now 9-1 in extra inning games and have six walk-off wins on the season.
Twins No. 8 prospect Dasan Hill got the start for Fort Myers, and turned in four innings of shutout baseball.
The 19-year-old lefty allowed just one hit and fanned four Dunedin batters while facing the minimum in his outing. It’s the second time in his last three appearances that Hill has not issued a walk.
Eli Jones took over for Hill in the top of the fifth, and worked a scoreless frame.
The Mussels were held in check by Dunedin starting pitcher and Naples High School grad Johnny King. Toronto’s No. 4 prospect, King tossed a season high five shutout frames and struck out seven.
With Jones still on the mound and the game still scoreless in the top of the seventh, Dunedin broke through for its first run of the series. Blue Jay right fielder Matt Scanell picked up a two-out RBI to plate Braden Barry and give Dunedin a 1-0 lead.
Fort Myers responded with a run of its own in the bottom of the frame. Enrique Jimenez hit an opposite field single to begin the inning, and Robinson drew a walk two batters later to put two runners aboard.
With two outs in the inning, Houston then roped a single up the middle, which scored Jimenez to tie the game at 1-1. Robinson was thrown out trying to advance to third on the base hit to end the inning.
Dylan Questad entered the game in the top of the ninth and issued a leadoff walk to Kendry Chirinos.
Later in the inning with two outs, Chirinos was cut down at home trying to score. Pinch hitter JR Freethy delivered a single to center, but Yasser Mercedes delivered a perfect throw to Jimenez at the plate to send the game to the bottom of the ninth still tied 1-1.
The Mussels couldn’t muster any offense in the bottom of the inning and the game went to extras
Dunedin took a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th, as the auto-runner Freethy scored on a passed ball.
Carpenter, Ross combine for shutout, Mussels blank Blue Jays, 4-0
FORT MYERS — Michael Carpenter and Michael Ross led the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels to a 4-0 shutout win over the Dunedin Blue Jays Friday night at Hammond Stadium.
Carpenter started on the mound for Fort Myers (44-54, 17-17), and was excellent across four scoreless innings.
The left-hander allowed just one hit and punched out four Dunedin (47-48, 13-17) batters. Four innings pitched ties a season-high for Carpenter.
Ross (4-4) took over from Carpenter in the top of the fifth inning, and faced the minimum after inducing a ground ball double play to end the frame.
Ross finished the night tossing the final five innings. He struck out four and issued one walk. Ross has now thrown 15 straight scoreless innings, dating back to July 20. The shutout win was the fifth of the season for Mussels’ pitching.
The Mussels broke through against Dunedin starter Austin Cates (5-3) in the bottom of the fifth. Ryan Sprock recorded his first professional hit with one down in the inning, and advanced to second after Shai Robinson drew a walk.
Later in the frame with two outs, Twins 2025 first rounder Marek Houston laced an opposite field single to right-center to plate Sprock and give the Mussels a 1-0 lead. The single was the first hit of Houston’s professional career.
High-A rehabber Khadim Diaw was the next man to the plate, and he hammered a three-run homer onto the berm in left field to extend the Fort Myers advantage to 4-0.