Rats Outshine Suns behind Well-Balanced Attack
DeLAND, Fla. – On a sunny Sunday afternoon at Conrad Park, the River Rats defeated the DeLand Suns 5-4 in a rescheduled contest. Sanford moved to an even .500 on the year and now is 4-4, DeLand dropped to 4-3.
It was a combination of a solid pitching effort with consistent offense that propelled the River Rats to a win in a game that was defensively sloppier than normal–a total of eight errors were made between the two clubs.
“The guys are playing aggressive,” head coach Scott Makarewicz said. “We’re getting really good pitching and the bats are really coming around.”
The Rats finished with their five runs on 10 hits, doubling the hit total of the Suns.
Jonnie Benniefield (Undecided) started for the Rats going three innings and yielding just one earned run. Then, Bo Plagge (Undecided) saw his first action on the mound this season, tossing two scoreless innings.
Ryan Brewer (Pensacola State) ended with the win and came on for the Rats after Plagge, going three innings and giving up no runs on two hits. Michael Harkcom (FIU) picked up his second save of the season, pitching a 1-2-3 perfect ninth inning.
Offensively, Miles Simington (Heartland) led the way, going 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs at the dish. Simington also added in a sacrifice fly and hit by pitch to his final stat line. Josh Crouch (SCF) and Darien Prewett (MTSU) joined Simington as the only other Rats to record a multi-hit performances.
“I was just seeing pitches, trying to change my approach,” Simington said. “It just worked out today. It was a great day to hit.”
The Rats started the scoring in the second inning when Seth Cannady (FIU) kicked off a two-out rally with a single. Then, Simington doubled to put runners on second and third. Crouch then blasted a ground-rule double to right-center field, plating both runs and pushing Sanford out in front, 2-0.
DeLand came back with its own rally in the third, plating three runs on two hits to take a slim 3-2 advantage.
The Suns added to their lead with another run in the fourth, taking a 4-3 lead. However, that would be the only scoring for DeLand for the rest of the contest, finishing with four runs only one of which was earned.
The Rats bounced back in the fourth when Cannady reached on an error and eventually moved around to third on a passed ball. Simington lifted a fly ball deep enough into the outfield to score Cannady on the sacrifice fly and cut the deficit to one, 4-3.
Sanford tied the game in the top of the sixth when Andrew Labosky (Nova Southeastern) singled with one out. Three batters later, Simington knocked Labosky home with a single of his own, notching Simington’s second RBI of the contest and tying the game at four.
The go-ahead run for the Rats came in the seventh when Christian Castro ripped a one-out single to get on base. After two more singles, Castro came in to score on a wild pitch and bring the game to its final score of 5-3.
Myan Patel (Georgia)
