The Wandering Disciple

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs were unable to overcome the offense of the Lakeland Flying Tigers as they lost 5-4 on Friday night at Charlotte Sports Park. Lakeland took an early lead in the second inning. Francisco Martinez and Jordan Lennerton picked up back to back singles to lead off the inning. A sac bunt by Christopher Sedon moved both runners into scoring position. Samir Rijo drove home the first run with a line drive to left. Gustavo Nunez then drove home a run to increase the lead to 2-0. The Stone Crabs answered with a run in the bottom of the third. Rocco Baldelli led off the inning with a single to left. Stephen Vogt and Greg Jefferies then singled to load the bases. Reid Fronk drove home Baldelli with a sac fly to cut the lead in half 2-1. The Flying Tigers distanced themselves with a three run sixth inning. Matt Mansilla drove home the first run of the inning with an RBI single to score John Murrian. Later in the inning, Rijo ripped a two run ...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs picked up their 22nd come from behind victory in walk-off fashion against the Lakeland Flying Tigers. While the rehab appearance by Tampa Bay’s Andy Sonnanstine was the highlight of the night, it was the close contest between the regular starters that had people talking at the end of the night. Lakeland jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Gustavo Nunez led off the game with a line drive single to center. Nunez then stole second and later scored on an RBI single by Bryan Holaday to give the Flying Tigers a 1-0 lead. The Stone Crabs answered back in the bottom of the first. Tim Beckham drew a walk to put a runner on the bases. Then on a hit and run play, Stephen Vogt singled to right, allowing Beckham to score from first and tie the game 1-1. Lakeland took the lead back in the second. Patrick McKenna and Matthew Mansilla picked up back to back singles to get things started. Gustavo Nunez drove home the run with a si...

Port Charlotte, Florida: The Charlotte Stone Crabs suffered a tough loss to the Dunedin Blue Jays 10-4 on Sunday evening at Charlotte Sports Park. Stone Crabs starter Frank De Los Santos was hit hard in the loss, allowing 8 runs on 11 hits in the game. The Stone Crabs jumped out to an early lead in the first inning. Reid Fronk led off the inning with a triple to right field. Tim Beckham drove home Fronk with a ground ball to second, giving the Stone Crabs a 1-0 lead. Dunedin battled back to take the lead in the top of the second inning. Mark Sobolewski led off the inning with a solo home run to left that tied the game. Later in the inning, Justin McClanahan drove home a run with an RBI single to center that scored Yan Gomes and gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead. Dunedin added to their lead with another two run inning in the fourth inning. Ryan Goins scored the first run of the inning on a throwing error by Tim Beckham. Then Brian Van Kirk drove home Anthony Gose for the second ru...

Sarasota, Florida: The Gulf Coast Rays shut-out the Gulf Coast Orioles 3-0 on Friday afternoon at the Ed Smith Sports Complex. The Rays secured the win on a long ball by Matt Fields, his second during his brief stint with the GCL Rays. Fields is with the club working the kinks out of his newest weapon, the ability to hit left handed. The Rays broke the scoreless tie in the third inning. Craige Lyerly singled to left to put a runner aboard. Lyerly then stole second and later scored on an RBI single by Justin O’Conner to give the Rays a 1-0 lead. They Rays added a run to their total in the fifth inning. Luke Bailey, Julian Morillo and Lyerly all singled to load the bases. Juniel Querecuto then hit into a double play, allowing Bailey to score and increase the lead to 2-0. The Rays picked up an insurance run in the top of the eighth inning. Fields struck a solo home run to give them the 3-0 margin of victory. This was Fields second home run from the left side of the dish, with t...

Port Charlotte, Florida: It was the longest game in franchise history with 19 innings of baseball being played on Monday night at Charlotte Sports Park. When the dust settled over five hours from the first pitch, the Charlotte Stone Crabs fell to the Daytona Cubs 4-3. The evening marked the return of Rocco Baldelli the Tampa Bay organization after being signed to a minor league contract earlier on Monday. Baldelli started as the designated hitter for the Stone Crabs during the marathon game. The loss was the Stone Crabs fifth consecutive loss. Daytona jumped out to an early lead in the fist inning. DJ LeMahieu doubled to right then later advanced to third on a wild pitch. LeMahieu then scored on a single by Ryan Flaherty. Michael Brenly followed with a single to center. Kyler Burke drove home both runners with a double to center, giving the Cubs a 3-0 lead. The Stone Crabs added a run of their own in the bottom of the first. Tim Beckham doubled to left to get things started. ...

Tampa, Florida: The newest additions to Lowry Park Zoo, Safari Africa brings the animals of the safari right to the west coast of Florida. The region became more diverse with the addition of the Ituri Forest, making it one of the most realistic African experience available. Safari Africa is the largest portion of the park. The vast savannah is home to some of the parks more popular residents. Here you will find elephants, camels, zebras, gazelles, African penguins, rhinos, giraffes and more. You also have the ability to interact with some of the animals of the safari by feeding the giraffes and white rhinos or take a ride on the back of a Dromedary camel. The Ituri Forest portion of Safari Africa is an animal habitat developed to represent the dense rainforest found along the Congo River. Along the trail you will encounter cheetahs, okapi, pygmy hippos and red river hogs. Two of the parks rides can also be found in Safari Africa. Here you can board the Safari Ride, a fifteen m...

Sarasota, Florida: The Gulf Coast Rays fell to the Gulf Coast Orioles 4-1 on Tuesday afternoon on the back fields at Ed Smith Stadium. The Orioles took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Brian Roberts, on an MLB rehab assignment, led off the inning with a single to center. Pedro Rodriguez then hit into a force out, losing Roberts at second but leaving Rodriguez on first. Rodriguez then advanced to this on a single by Dudley Leonora. Preston Hale drove home the run with a sac fly that scored Rodriguez and gave them a 1-0 lead. The Rays fought back to tie the game in the third inning. Cesar Perez and Julian Morillo led off the inning with back to back walks. Edward Dorville followed with a single to right to load the bases. Joel Caminero then plated a run with an RBI single to right to tie the game 1-1. The Orioles wasted no time in regaining the lead, posting a run in the bottom half of the third. Martin Serrata doubled to right then later scored on an RBI single by L...