The Wandering Disciple

Bradenton Marauders infielder Alen Hansen turns two over a sliding Brandon Macias as the Marauders hosted the Brevard County Manatees at historic McKechnie Field.  (Photo: April 30, 2013)

Brevard County Manatees infielder Greg Hopkins throws to first during Tuesday night's game between the Manatees and the Bradenton Marauders at McKechnie Field.  (Photo: April 30, 2013)

Bradenton, Florida: The Bradenton Marauders hosted the Brevard County Manatees for a Florida State League matchup on Tuesday night at historic McKechnie Field in Bradenton. The home team Marauders used their homefield advantage to work up an early lead. But the Manatees battled back to tie the game before play was suspended due to heavy rain. Click on the photo to view the rest of the photos from the Marauders/Manatees game .

Bradenton, Florida: A packed crowd at McKechnie Field watched the home team win as the Bradenton Marauders defeated the Brevard County Manatees 6-5 on Wednesday night. The Marauders posted all six of their runs in the first inning as they sent all nine hitters to the plate in the inning. Robbie Grossman doubled to left followed by a single by Jarek Cunningham. Ramon Cabrera then drew a walk to load the bases. Another walk to Aaron Baker pushed across the first run of the game. Elevys Gonzalez then drove home two runs with a double to center. Baker then scored on a wild pitch. David Rubinstein was next to collect an RBI with a single to center. After a pitching change, Adalberto Santos tripled to right to give the Marauders a 6-0 lead. The Manatees finally reached the scoreboard in the fifth inning. Juan Sanchez doubled to center to lead off the inning. Kentrail Davis later cleared the bases with a home run to left that put them on the board. The Manatees added two more runs i...

Port Charlotte, Florida: For the second time in as many nights, the Charlotte Stone Crabs outlasted the Brevard County Manatees in a 21 run slugfest. The Stone Crabs scored a season high 12 runs to defeat the Manatees 12-9 on Friday night at Charlotte Sports Complex. Tim Beckham continued to prove that his hitting slump is behind him by going 4 of 5 driving in three runs and bringing his batting average up to just below .200 on the season. Brevard County jumped out to a big lead in the first inning by striking for five runs in the inning. The Manatees offense was aided by wild pitching by Stone Crabs starter Chris Andujar who struck a batter and walked two in the inning. Mat Gamel picked up two RBI's with a double to center, Josh Prince singled home a run, Anderson De La Rosa drew a bases load walk to score Sergio Miranda and Josh Prince scored on a passed ball for the Manatees five runs. The Stone Crabs pulled back into the game in the bottom of the first. Leslie Anderson hit his...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs fell to the Brevard County Manatees in game one of Thursday’s doubleheader at Charlotte Sports Park. The Stone Crabs took an early lead in the first inning off an RBI single by Cody Cipriano to score John Matulia. Cipriano later scored on a Henry Wrigley single and the Stone Crabs took a 2-0 lead. The Manatees came back to take the lead in the top of the second inning. Caleb Gindl and Eric Farris led off the inning with back to back singles. Zelous Wheeler advanced the runners on a sacrifice bunt. Sergio Miranda followed with a two run double to right field. Logan Schafer singled home Miranda for the third run of the inning and Brevard County took the lead 3-2. The Manatees added four more runs to their lead in the third inning. Zelous Wheeler drove home two runs with a single to right that scored Steffan Wilson and Caleb Gindl. Sergio Miranda followed with a single that scored Eric Farris. Then it was Carlos Corporan to drive...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds picked up a big win against the Brevard County Manatees on Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium. The Reds beat the Manatees 7-1. The Reds struck first in the first inning. Jake Kahaulelio homered to center to lead of the game. Jose Castro then singled to right followed by a walk to Todd Frazier. Carson Kainer drove home two runs with a double to left. Kainer later scored on a single by Justin Tordi to give the Reds a 4-0 lead. The Reds picked up three more runs in the bottom of the third. Frazier singled on a line drive to left to lead the inning. Chris Heisey followed with a walk. Jason Louwsma cleared the bases with a three run homer to increase the lead to 7-0. The Manatees got their only run of the game in the fourth inning. Darren Ford walked to lead the inning. Ford moved to third on a double by Brent Brewer. Taylor Green then drew a walk to load the bases. Chuck Caufield was hit by a pitch to push Ford across the plate for the only...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds wrapped up the four game series against the Brevard County Manatees with an 8-6 win on Saturday night at Ed Smith Stadium. Both clubs exchanged runs but when the dust settled, the Reds squeezed out a victory. The Manatees jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second. But the Reds answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to lead 2-1. Brevard County battled back to tie the game 2-2 an inning later. The Reds pushed across three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to retake the lead. The big inning gave them a 5-2 lead. The Manatees strung together a big inning of their own in the top of the fifth. They struck for 4 runs to take a 6-5 lead. But the Reds offense pushed another offensive charge in the bottom of the sixth. The Reds pushed across three more runs to take the lead once and for all, 8-6. The bullpens combined to keep further runs off the scoreboard and the Reds walked away with a 8-6 victory to t...

Viera, Florida: The Brevard County Manatees are currently the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They play in the Northern Division of the Florida State League of professional baseball. The Manatees began play in the Florida State League in 1994 as an affiliate of the Florida Marlins. The remained with the Marlins until 2001 when their affiliation switched to the Montreal Expos. The player development contract with the Expos only lasted two years. Then in 2005, the Brewers took over the franchise and has a contract with the Manatees through the 2012 season. The Manatees have one league championship and three division championships in their collection. They shared the league championship in 2001 when the finals were cancelled due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The won the division title in 1994, 2001 and 2007. In 2009, the Manatees picked up the 1,000 franchise win over the Dunedin Blue Jays on August 12. The Manatees play their home schedule at the 8,100 seat...