Miracle rally in ninth to complete four-game sweep

Special to the Naples Daily News

DAYTONA BEACH — After seeing a seven-run lead disappear on Wednesday night, the Fort Myers Miracle were able to bounce back with two in the ninth on their way to a 9-8 win and series sweep over the Daytona Cubs. Dwayne White would pick up the game-winner at Jackie Robinson Ballpark with a sacrifice fly capping off the Miracle ninth.

The Miracle would put seven runs on the board, all with two outs in the second, blasting off to a 7-0 lead. Danny Valencia kept the inning alive with a two-out single to left, also pushing his hit-streak to eight, and scored moments later on a Johnny Woodard double to right.

An RBI single from Jeff Christy would make it a two-run contest before a fielding error by Billy Mottram at third base opened the flood gates for the Miracle. Erik Lis and Dustin Martin would slap back-to-back two-run doubles helping the Miracle out to their seven spot in the second.

Daytona did anything but roll over and die on Wednesday bouncing right back for three in their half of the second. Three-straight hits, including an RBI double from Alfred Joseph, put the Cubs on the board before a ground out from Mottram and infield single by Mark Reed made it a 7-3 game.

Three more runs an inning later by the Cubs made it a quick one-run game as Ryan Harvey connected on his eighth home run of the year, a two-run blast to left, slicing the deficit to two. Joseph would follow two hitters later with his second RBI, a single to right scoring Matt Matulia, for a 7-6 contest.

Daytona would tie it up in the fifth without the benefit of a single hit in the inning. Harvey struck out to begin the frame, but reached first on a wild pitch from Miracle reliever J.P. Martinez. After moving to third on a walk and groundout, Mottram’s groundball to second would plate Harvey with the Cubs tying run. A pair of one-out singles for the Cubs in the sixth would lead to the go-ahead run after Brian Dopirak’s grounded out to third.

The ninth-inning rally began with a lead-off single by Lis and a double down the left-field line by Martin. After a one-out walk to Valencia loaded the bases, Woodard would rope a single to right, bringing in Lis for the eight-all tie. White then followed seconds later with his sacrifice fly to right, scoring Martin just around the attempted tag by Reed at the plate.

With the win, the Miracle picked up their first four-game sweep of the season. A four-game homestand with the Brevard County Manatees await the Miracle on Thursday night at Hammond Stadium. Post-game Midget Wrestling will follow the “Thursty Thursday” ball game at 7:05 p.m.