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WINTER PARK, Fla. (June 28, 2011) – The Sanford River Rats endured a rough start to the week with an 11-3 loss to the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at Alfond Stadium Tuesday night.
“It kind of snowballed for us,” River Rats Head Coach Stephen Piercefield said. “We swung the bats well, but they made the plays defensively that they needed to. Their pitcher did a nice job settling in and from then, their bullpen did a good job.”
The Rats (6-10-1) started strong as leadoff hitter Alex Mendez (South Florida) hit a 1-2 pitch for a double and scored on a TJ Gavlik (North Florida) double in the first.
Winter Park’s (12-3) Dustin Demuth (Indiana University) scored on a passed ball in the second to tie the game. Demuth added another run in the fourth on a pitcher’s error. Michael Danner (Polk State College) hit a solo home run and B.J. Zimmerman (State College of Florida) scored on a catcher’s error in the fourth to give the Dawgs a 4-1 lead going into the fifth.
Sanford scored two runs in the fifth. Mendez hit his second double of the night, which also scored Tyler Doughty (Florida Tech). Dominic Attanasio (Clemson) hit a single to plate Mendez to make it a 4-3 game.
“We’re swinging the bat really well. We’re moving guys over, we’re starting to make more productive outs,” Piercefield said. “Overall, we’ve just got to keep working on minimizing when things start to go awry.”
Winter Park loaded the bases on two straight walks and a single in the home half of the fifth. Danner sent Michael Reed (Auburn University) and Omar Cotto (Southern Cal) home on a double before stealing home. Ted Blackman (Coastal Carolina) also crossed home in the fifth to make it 8-3.
Pat Fortunato (Rhode Island) took the mound in relief to close the fifth and staunch the flow. He then pitched two more scoreless innings, striking out three and walking one in three innings of work.
The Dawgs added three more runs in the eighth. Reed hit a double to plate Alex Cruz (Georgia Tech) and Brad Hutton (Ohio State), while Stephen Holden scored on a single from Cotto.
The Rats will try to regroup with a contest against the Winter Haven Loggerheads (7-10) at Historic Sanford Memorial Stadium Wednesday night. First pitch is slated for 7 p.m.
“Tomorrow the guys are going to have kind of a long day,” Piercefield said. "Some will help with a special needs group in Altamonte Springs and others are going to the Boys and Girls Club. Hopefully things start rolling the right way for us tomorrow.”
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