Mighty Mussels pound out offensive season highs in comeback win
FORT MYERS – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Dunedin Blue Jays by a final score of 12-7 Thursday night at the Lee Health Sports Complex.
The Mighty Mussels (11-7) won their second game in a row behind season-highs in runs (12), hits (13) and home runs (4). Fort Myers once trailed 7-2 in the game before scoring 10 unanswered runs to secure the win.
After a 42-minute rain delay to begin the evening, the Mighty Mussels sent Kolten Smith to the mound to make his first start of the 2026 season. Smith struck out two Dunedin hitters in a scoreless first inning.
Reigning Florida State League Pitcher of the Week Nolan Perry toed the slab for the Blue Jays (9-9). Perry allowed a leadoff base hit by Dameury Pena. Pena would steal his sixth bag of the season before Perry struck out the next three hitters.
In the top of the second inning, David Beckles led off the inning by reaching on an error. The next batter, Enmanuel Bonilla hit a two-run home run off the center field batter’s eye. That gave Dunedin a 2-0 lead.
Fort Myers would battle against Perry in the third, as Yasser Mercedes smoked a ball over center fielder Raimundo De Los Santos’ head for a triple. He later came home on an error by third baseman Juan Sanchez to put the Mussels on the board, making it 2-1.
Dunedin answered against new righty Eric Hammond in the fourth, as Juan Rosas crushed a three-run home run to left-center field. The Blue Jays led the game 5-1 after 3 1/2 innings.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Fort Myers continued to chip away, as a leadoff walk by Twins No. 14 prospect Quentin Young was paid off by a two-out RBI double by Ramiro Dominguez to make the score 5-2 Dunedin.
The Blue Jays kept on coming in the fifth inning, with a key two-out, two-run single by Bonilla that stretched Dunedin’s lead to 7-2.
Pena led off the bottom of the inning with another single, then Mercedes hammered his third home run of the season onto the berm in left field. The score was 7-4 after five innings.
In the sixth, two-way southpaw Austin Smith retired the first two hitters, but then Dominguez snuck one inside the foul pole down the left field line for his second home run of the season.
Later in the frame, Irvin Nunez singled, setting the table for Pena, who ripped a ball up the gap and off the left-center field wall. Nunez scored all the way from first to make it a one-run game. Pena’s three-hit night marked his eighth multi-hit game of the season and brought his FSL-best average up to .418.
The Mighty Mussels were back to work in the seventh inning. After JP Smith II drew a one-out walk, Jayson Bass clobbered a two-run home run at 107.4 mph off the bat, giving Fort Myers its first lead of the evening, 8-7. The blast traveled 391 feet down the right field line.
The Mussels offense kept rolling in the eighth inning with four big insurance runs, highlighted by a two-run single by Beltre and a two-run home run by Smith, making it 12-7. Fort Myers scored in six consecutive innings in the come-from-behind victory.
Mussels’ pitching held Dunedin’s offense scoreless throughout the last four innings, with Matthew DesMartes (1-0) locking down the final three frames to secure his first career win.
The series continues on today, April 24. The Mighty Mussels will send Matthew Dalquist (0-1, 7.71) to the mound, Dunedin will counter with Dayne Pengelly (0-0, 4.26). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.