The Wandering Disciple

Sarasota, Florida: The Gulf Coast League season kicked off this week and the Orioles and Twin met for a four game series to start the campaign. Thursday afternoon's game was played at Ed Smith Stadium and those in attendance were treated to a pitcher duel that saw the Twins pick up a 1-0 win. The only run of the afternoon game in the top of the first inning. Akil Baddoo doubled to left and later scored on a ground ball by Alex Robles to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. From that point on, pitching and defense highlighted the afternoon. Pedro Garcia tossed 6 2/3 shut-out innings to pick up the win. Vadim Balan closed out the game with 2 1/3 scoreless innings to secure the win for the Twins. Click on the photo above to view my Orioles/Twins photo gallery .

Minnesota Twins minor leaguer Joe Cronin kicks up some clay as he slides into second during a Gulf Coast League game against the Orioles.  (Photo: June 27, 2016)

Sarasota, Florida: The GCL Orioles hosted the GCL Twins for some Monday afternoon baseball under sunny skies as Ed Smith Stadium. The 2016 season just got underway on Friday and has already featured some amazing baseball as the young minor leaguers make their first step in their journey to the show. The Orioles jumped out to an early lead by scoring in the second inning. Seamus Curran led off the inning with an infield single. He later scored on an RBI single by Irving Ortega to make it 1-0. The Orioles added three more runs in the seventh inning. Gui Yuan Xu drove home a run and Daniel Franco knocked home two more to make it 4-0. The Orioles pitching staff combined for 9 innings of scoreless ball while compiling 15 strikeouts to win the game and improve to 3-0 on the season. Click the photo above to view my Orioles/Twins photo gallery or enjoy the slideshow below.  

Sarasota, Florida: The GCL Orioles overcame an early deficit to defeat the GCL Twins 5-3 in Gulf Coast League action at Ed Smith Stadium. The Twins took the lead in the first inning on a two run single by Blake Schmit to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. The Orioles cut the lead in half in the bottom of the first. An RBI single by Jason Heinrich scored Kirvin Mosequit to make it 2-1. The Orioles tied the game in the fourth on a solo homer by Gerrion Grim. The Orioles took the lead in the fifth as Frank Crinella scored on a wild pitch to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead. The Orioles added a run to their lead an inning later. Carlos Diaz doubled home Stuart Levy to make it 4-2. The Twins inched closer by scoring in the seventh. A sac fly by Ariel Montesino scored Roberto Gonzalez to pull within a run of the lead. But the Orioles picked up an insurance run in the eighth as Heinrich scored on wild pitch to give the Orioles the 5-3 margin of victory. David Richardson was the winni...

Sarasota, Florida: The GCL Twins and GCL Orioles dueled for twelve innings before the visiting Twins squeezed out a 2-1 win over the Orioles. The Twins broke the scoreless tie by scoring in the second inning. Robert Molina delivered a line drive single to center to give the Twins a baserunner with two outs. Molina later scored on an error to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. The Orioles tied the game in the fifth inning. Carlos Diaz led off the inning with a single to right. He moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Diaz then advanced to third following a single by Stuart Levy. Gerrion Grim would drive home Diaz with a line drive to center to tie the game. The game would stay tied until the top of the twelfth inning. Kolton Kendrick drew a two-out walk to put the go-ahead run on the bases. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and then was removed from the game and replaced with Jorge Andrade as a pinch runner. After an intentional walk put Molina on the bases, a series...

Sarasota, Florida: The GCL Orioles hosted the GCL Twins on the big field at Ed Smith Stadium on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. The home team rallied late to take a 6-3 win. The Twins jumped out to an early lead during a long second inning. A single to right by Robert Molina combined with a fielding error scored two runs to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. The Orioles battled back to tie the game in the bottom of the third. A two run double by Gerrion Grim tied the game at two all. The Orioles took their first lead of the afternoon in the seventh. Frank Crinella opened the inning with a triple to center. Then Carlos Diaz cleared the bases with a homer to right to give the Orioles a 4-2 lead. The Twins got a run back in the eighth inning. Roberto Gonzalez scored on a ground ball by Jorge Andrade to pull within a run of the lead. The Orioles added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Three straight singles loaded the bases from Crinella who double home two runs ...

The Gulf Coast Rays lost to the Gulf Coast Twins 7-3 on a soggy Monday afternoon at the Charlotte Sports Complex. A bullpen collapse lead to four runs in the ninth combined with five errors resulted in the Rays suffering the loss. The Rays scored first in the third inning. Julian Morillo drew a walk to lead off the inning. Morillo advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then Edward Dorville tripled to center to score Morillo. Dorville would then score on a double by Joel Caminero to give the Rays a 2-0 lead. The Twins cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth. Max Kepler-Rozycki reached on a throwing error to put a runner on base. Then Nicholas Tindall doubled to center, scoring the runner and pulling to within a run of the lead 2-1. The Twins tied the game in the sixth. Eddie Rosario reached on error, followed by Kennys Vargas reaching on a catcher's interference call against Justin O'Connor. Rosario then stole third and later scored on a passed ball to tie the game 2-2. The T...

Fort Myers, Florida: The Gulf Coast League Twins are the rookie league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. The GCL Twins play in the Southern Division of the Gulf Coast League. The GCL Twins began play in 1991. There home games are played the Lee County Sports Complex in Fort Myers, the spring training home of the Minnesota Twins. The roster is comprised of entry level baseball players and rehabbing major league players. They have yet to win a GCL title but have won the south division crown twice, in 2007 and 2009. For photos from the club, visit my GCL Twins photo page. Here you will find game photos and player pictures.