Written By: Joe Zollo
(Kissimmee, FL) In the final game of this three-game series between the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Florida Fire Frogs, Dunedin’s bats showed up in a meaningful fashion to help them hit all over the field Wednesday. The pitching matchup Wednesday evening featured RHP Jordan Romano of Dunedin opposing LHP Tyler Pike of Florida.
Both pitchers saw short time, but Romano made the most of his time on the mound. He pitched a short four innings but only allowed one run on three hits while striking out three. The relievers for Dunedin showed up in style as well as they combined to allow only five hits in the final five innings of play. Ryan Cook stood out amongst the relievers as he went three innings allowing only one hit while striking out four.
At the plate, for Dunedin, it was a laser show. Overall, the team had 13 hits in the game, and all but one of them were singles. No big hits from the Blue Jays, they just made good contact with the pitches they saw and capitalized with great base running. One other thing that helped them out was the nine walks they received in the game. The poor pitching and good plate vision and discipline from the Jays made the game ultimately unreachable for Florida.
On the Fire Frogs side of things, starting pitcher, Tyler Pike struggled in his 4.2 innings pitched. He allowed five runs on just seven hits while walking four and striking out only five. The relievers for Florida did not help the team much either as they combined to allow six more runs in the second half of the game. 1B Wigberto Nevarez had to come in to pitch in the 9th inning; he allowed three runs in his short 0.1 innings pitched.
At the plate, for Florida, they did not show up until it didn’t matter anymore. Four of their ten hits in the game came in the ninth inning when they were down by double-digit runs, and the game was out of reach. The bottom three in the order singled and Austin Riley capped it off with a three-run home run to make the Fire Frogs loss a tiny bit more respectable. Aside from his home run, Riley continues to struggle at the plate but continues to impress in the field at his third base position. If he can figure how to improve on his .231 average this season, he is looking at getting called up into Double-A and possibly even Triple-A.
Another Fire Frog that has great fielding skills but must improve his performance at the plate is the speedster Ray-Patrick Didder. Didder has an impressive arm in the outfield with speed and reaction time to catch almost everything that comes his way. The only problem is that his batting average is .158. His first look seems to be to walk any chance he gets so he can get on base and steal with his blazing, speed but he needs to be more aggressive if he looks to be called up.
Dunedin takes the final game of the series in an 11-5 blowout over Florida. Dunedin continues their road trip as they travel to Jupiter to challenge the Hammerheads in a four-game series while Florida takes their first road trip of the year to take on the St. Lucie Mets. First game in the series for Florida is April 13, and lefty Drew Harrington gets the ball for the Fire Frogs. So far this season, Harrington is 1-0 in his lone start with an ERA of 0, and he looks to continue that dominance against the Mets.
Both pitchers saw short time, but Romano made the most of his time on the mound. He pitched a short four innings but only allowed one run on three hits while striking out three. The relievers for Dunedin showed up in style as well as they combined to allow only five hits in the final five innings of play. Ryan Cook stood out amongst the relievers as he went three innings allowing only one hit while striking out four.
At the plate, for Dunedin, it was a laser show. Overall, the team had 13 hits in the game, and all but one of them were singles. No big hits from the Blue Jays, they just made good contact with the pitches they saw and capitalized with great base running. One other thing that helped them out was the nine walks they received in the game. The poor pitching and good plate vision and discipline from the Jays made the game ultimately unreachable for Florida.
On the Fire Frogs side of things, starting pitcher, Tyler Pike struggled in his 4.2 innings pitched. He allowed five runs on just seven hits while walking four and striking out only five. The relievers for Florida did not help the team much either as they combined to allow six more runs in the second half of the game. 1B Wigberto Nevarez had to come in to pitch in the 9th inning; he allowed three runs in his short 0.1 innings pitched.
At the plate, for Florida, they did not show up until it didn’t matter anymore. Four of their ten hits in the game came in the ninth inning when they were down by double-digit runs, and the game was out of reach. The bottom three in the order singled and Austin Riley capped it off with a three-run home run to make the Fire Frogs loss a tiny bit more respectable. Aside from his home run, Riley continues to struggle at the plate but continues to impress in the field at his third base position. If he can figure how to improve on his .231 average this season, he is looking at getting called up into Double-A and possibly even Triple-A.
Another Fire Frog that has great fielding skills but must improve his performance at the plate is the speedster Ray-Patrick Didder. Didder has an impressive arm in the outfield with speed and reaction time to catch almost everything that comes his way. The only problem is that his batting average is .158. His first look seems to be to walk any chance he gets so he can get on base and steal with his blazing, speed but he needs to be more aggressive if he looks to be called up.
Dunedin takes the final game of the series in an 11-5 blowout over Florida. Dunedin continues their road trip as they travel to Jupiter to challenge the Hammerheads in a four-game series while Florida takes their first road trip of the year to take on the St. Lucie Mets. First game in the series for Florida is April 13, and lefty Drew Harrington gets the ball for the Fire Frogs. So far this season, Harrington is 1-0 in his lone start with an ERA of 0, and he looks to continue that dominance against the Mets.