Miracle romped in home finale, dropped 14-2

By Special to the Naples Daily News

FORT MYERS — The final home game of the 2007 season didn’t go exactly according to plan as the visiting Sarasota Reds pounded out a season-high 14 runs on 16 hits in a 14-2 thumping over the Fort Myers Miracle. Neither team played well on defense as both teams combined for eight errors in a sloppy season-finale at Hammond Stadium.

A sacrifice-fly by Chris Valaika and RBI-groundout from Justin Tordi put the Reds up two heading into the Miracle second. A quick RBI-triple from Dwayne White and RBI-single from Jeff Christy would tie things up at 2-2, before things turned sour an inning later.

Leading 3-2 heading to the fourth, Sarasota would put together a seven-run inning to bust the contest open on Wednesday night. A three-run blast by Eric Eymann along with a three-run triple by B.J. Szymanski finished off the big inning. A single, fielding error by the Miracle, sacrifice fly and double play would all lead to the final four Reds runs on the night.

The Miracle close the home schedule drawing more than 114,000 fans during the ’07 season at Hammond Stadium. The final five games will take place in the next four nights beginning with a doubleheader Thursday in Sarasota. First pitch in game one is set for 5:00 p.m. from Ed Smith Stadium.