The Wandering Disciple

Sarasota Reds first baseman Jeremiah Piepkorn holds Vero Beach Devil Rays baserunner Sergio Pedroza close to the bag during a minor league baseball game at Ed Smith Stadium.  (Photo: June 2, 2007)

Vero Beach, Florida: For over 25 years, Vero Beach has been represented in the Florida State League. Their most recent club to call the city home is the Vero Beach Devil Rays, the Class A-Advanced Affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. A few famous alumni to make the major leagues from the Vero Beach D-Rays include Rocco Baldelli and David Price. The franchise entered the Florida State League in 1980 as an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Vero Beach Dodgers remained a part of the league until the end of the 2006 season when the Los Angeles Dodgers moved their franchise to the California League. After the Dodgers moved, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays stepped in and moved their minor league team from California to replace the departing Dodgers. The Vero Beach Devil Rays play their 70 game home schedule at historic Holman Stadium. The Vero Beach Devil Rays will play just two seasons in Vero Beach before being sold and relocated across the state to Port Charlotte, the spring training ho...

Sarasota, Florida: The Sarasota Reds rallied late but only managed to cut the deficit in half as they fell to the Vero Beach Devil Rays 8-4 at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday night. The game went on as scheduled despite squall lines from Tropical Storm Barry raced through the region. Vero Beach posted four runs to the scoreboard to jump out front. Just as the offense was producing at the plate so was Vero’s starting pitcher Mike Wlodarczyk, throwing four shut-out innings before the Reds hit the scoreboard with a solo run in the bottom of the fifth. Down 6-1, the Reds strung together three consecutive one run innings in the final three frames of the game but it wasn’t enough as the Reds fell 8-4. Logan Ondrusek suffered the loss for the Reds. Click on the photo above to view the Reds/Devil Rays photo gallery.