Weekend wrap: Mighty Mussels take final two games from Marauders
Clearwater Threshers visit Hammond Stadium for six-game series
Fang strikes out nine, Mussels secure series win over Marauders
BRADENTON – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Bradenton Marauders by a final score of 5-3 Sunday afternoon at LECOM Park.
Fort Myers (58-48, 21-20) sent Callan Fang to the mound to make his 12th appearance of the season. He recorded the first eight outs on strikeouts, setting a career-high in punch outs.
Fang’s nine total strikeouts are the most by a Mussels’ pitcher this season. The previous high was eight, last set by Merit Jones on June 2. Fang’s day was over after 3.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
The Mighty Mussels continued to close in on their single-season stolen bases record. With three more today, Fort Myers sits at 230 steals on the season, just six off tying the record set last season. They have the most stolen bases in the Florida State League and are fourth in all of Single-A.
Vahn Lackey led off the top of the fourth inning with a bloop double down the right field line, but the Mussels could not bring in the 2026 1st rounder and the game remained scoreless.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, Isaiah Lane and Luis Fragoza recorded back-to-back singles against Bradenton’s (46-60, 15-26) Wifrailyn Jaquez (0-1). After a pitching change, the Mussels finally broke through.
Yovanny Duran went up the middle to score Lane and give the Mussels the lead. The next batter was Colby Turner, who looped a jam-shot single to score two men and put Fort Myers on top 3-0.
The Marauders fought back in the bottom of the frame against Jake Covey (1-0). A two-out, two-run double from Antonio Pimentel cut Fort Myers lead to 3-2. Covey held there, leaving runners at second and third.
Hendry Chivilli (S1) took over in the seventh, recording three groundouts in a 1-2-3 inning.
In the top of the eighth, with Lane and Duran in scoring position, an error by Bradenton pitcher Tony Gonzalez led to two more runs.
Chvilli gave up a solo blast to Triple-A rehabber Nick Cimillo in the eighth, making the score 5-3.
A heavy downpour at LECOM Park caused a weather delay in the bottom of the ninth inning. After 44 minutes, Sunday’s game was called. Bradenton had the tying run at the plate with one out.
Fort Myers has now won back-to-back series on the road after winning four of seven in St. Lucie in late July. They sit in a tie for third place in the FSL West 2nd Half standings, six games off the pacing Tampa Tarpons with 25 games left in the regular season.
UP NEXT: The Mighty Mussels return home Tuesday, Aug. 11, to begin a six-game series with the Clearwater Threshers. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. with coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m. on the Mighty Mussels Baseball Network.
Four run third Inning leads Fort Myers past Bradenton, 6-1
BRADENTON – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels defeated the Bradenton Marauders 6-1 Saturday night at LECOM Park.
With the bases loaded and two outs in the third, Yovanny Duran opened the scoring with a two-run double to left. Quentin Young followed with a two-run double of his own, off the wall in right-center, to make it 4-0 and chase Marauders’ (48-59, 15-25) starter Reinold Navarro (4-2) from the game.
The four runs allowed were the most this season for the Pirates No. 12 prospect. Navarro has been the best pitcher in the FSL, leading the league with 111 strikeouts across 20 appearances. The Fort Myers’ (57-48, 20-20) offense brought his ERA up from 2.34 to 2.80.
Mussels’ starter Ramiro Villanueva went 2.2 innings before exiting with the bases loaded in the third. Eric Hammond (1-4) induced a comebacker on a check swing to escape the jam.
In the fifth, Carson Tinney led off with a single to center off of Triple-A rehabber Sean Sullivan. Ramiro Dominguez followed with his third walk in as many plate appearances. Then Aidan Teel connected on a double to the right field corner to make it 5-0. Two batters later, Young delivered a sacrifice fly to deep right to make it 6-0 and bring in his third RBI of the game. Young now has driven in at least three runs six different times this season.
Hammond worked 3.1 innings of one-run ball. He struck out four and exited with the Mussels leading 6-1 through six innings.
Nick McAuliffe held the lead across the seventh and eighth innings, striking out four and facing one above the minimum. Michael Hilker Jr. needed just eight pitches to retire the side in the ninth and secure the win.
McAuliffe and Hilker faced just two above the minimum and combined to strike out five batters across the final three frames.
Young sets exit velocity record In doubleheader split
BRADENTON – The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels split their doubleheader against the Bradenton Marauders Friday night at LECOM Park. A rain-out Thursday night set the stage for Friday’s twinbill.
In game one, Quentin Young set a franchise record for exit velocity. His 14th homer of the year left the bat at 115.8 mph, beating Carson Tinney who had just set the record on Sunday at 114.9. Young now has five homers with exit velocities above 111 mph this season. The Minnesota Twins’ No. 11 prospect trails only JP Smith II (15 HR earlier this season) for the most homers in a season since the franchise switched to Single-A in 2020.
Due to an hour and 45 minute weather delay prior to game one, game two did not conclude until 12:05 a.m., marking the latest finish of the season and surpassing the 11:53 p.m. wrap on May 30.
Game 1: Fort Myers 6, Bradenton 4
Mussels’ starter Matt Barr went 3+ innings and allowed four runs (two earned) while picking up a pair of strikeouts. Young’s homer in the fourth briefly put Fort Myers ahead 2-1 before Bradenton struck for three runs in the bottom of the frame to make it 4-2.
In the fifth, Isaiah Lane tripled to right-center, plating Bryce Fowler. Three batters later, Twins’ No. 28 prospect Yovanny Duran connected on his first FSL homer, a go-ahead three-run blast to make it 6-4.
Matthew Dalquist (3-3) took over with two men aboard in the third and covered the final four innings. After allowing one inherited runner to score, he kept Bradenton off the board for the rest of the game. Dalquist struck out three Marauders while throwing 34 of his 51 pitches for strikes.
Game 2: Bradenton 7, Fort Myers 3
Mussels’ starter Cristian Hernandez allowed a run in the first after walking two batters, hitting another and committing an error. The righty did punch out two, but needed 33 pitches to navigate in his first FSL inning.
Trailing 1-0 with two-outs in the top of the second, Merphy Hernandez connected on a two-run single to put Fort Myers ahead.
C. Hernandez exited after 2.1 innings. The 21-year-old struck out four of the final five batters he faced and the lone run he allowed was unearned.
In the fourth, Aidan Teel and M. Hernandez executed a double steal to draw home the third Fort Myers’ run of the game.
Adam Falinksi worked 1.2 innings of one-run ball, holding the lead.
Melvin Rodriguez (0-1) took over in the fifth for his FSL debut. The 20-year-old allowed three runs, including a go-ahead home run from Antonio Pimentel to flip the lead 5-3.
Bradenton added another two runs off Rodriguez in the sixth to extend the margin 7-3.