Lemon Bay Rallies Against Lakewood For First Win

Tyler Kreissler prepares to deliver a pitch in the sixth inning.

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With the 2017 season in full swing the Lemon Bay Manta Rays were still searching for their first win of the season.

On Wednesday, they traveled north to St. Petersburg to take on the Lakewood Spartans. A four-run second inning helped the Spartans jump out to an early 5-1 lead, but the Manta Rays stormed back on the bats of Trey Fields and Brandon Gielow and pulled away with a 16-5 victory.

“I feel like we crossed a threshold tonight,” said Manta Rays’ Manager Casey Hanrahan. “We have had a lot of stuff working against us up to this point of the season and to just break through and get a couple things going our way. It felt good, it really felt like a breakthrough. We have something to build on now. This team has a lot of potential, we just need to dig down deep and find a way to get it done. Hopefully we keep building that momentum moving forward.”

The Spartans (2-3) had everything working for them early in the game. Starter Sean Thornton kept the Manta Ray batters on their toes through the first three innings. Thornton allowed just one run on three hits during that stretch.

A walk to Ryan Agdamag and back-to-back singles from Derek Scott and Aiden O’Dowd in the bottom of the second inning got the Spartan offense moving in the right direction. A sacrifice hit from Anthony Hudson with the bases load brought home Agdamag to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead. They added three more runs before the inning was over after they took advantage of a few defensive miscues committed by the Manta Rays.

The teams traded runs in the third inning and the Spartans took a 5-1 lead into the fourth, chasing Manta Rays’ starter Jacob Treece in the process.

Facing a four-run deficit, the Manta Rays (1-4) needed a spark offensively. Treece got the rally started with a single past the shortstop with one out in the fourth inning. Two hit batsmen loaded the bases with two outs for Trey Fields, who laced the second pitch he saw deep into right field for a bases-clearing triple. The near-home run cut the deficit to just one and it remained that way until the sixth inning.

A lot was working against the Manta Rays during the first half of the game. Uncharacteristic miscues led to several runs and at one point they found themselves down four but the momentum had begun to swing in favor of the Manta Rays. Tyler Kreissler took to the mound to start the bottom of the fourth inning for the Manta Rays after they had pulled to within one and proceeded to shut down the Spartans over the next two innings, allowing just one walk and one hit, including a 1-2-3 bottom of the fifth inning.

Entering the top of the sixth, still trailing 5-4, the Manta Rays continued the rally they started in the fourth inning. Coleston Dukes led the inning off with a single to left field, followed two at-bats later by a single from Rinconnes to put runners at first and second. After a walk to Fields loaded the bases, Brandon Gielow hit a blistering line-drive double to right field to score Dukes and the go-ahead run, Rinconnes.

The Manta Rays took the lead for the first time all game and never looked back. Fields and Gielow crossed the plate later in the inning and Kreissler added another run and the Manta Rays entered the seventh with a 9-5 lead.

“It feels pretty great,” said Gielow about the comeback. “Our team really needed the runs and we had to dig down deep. We need to stay confident moving forward and just play the game the way we know how to play.”

Kreissler returned to mound and continued to dominate in the sixth and seventh inning. All in all, he went four strong innings, allowing two hits, walking two and striking out two. If there was any doubt that the Manta Rays’ offense had caught fire, they added seven more runs in the seventh to keep rolling. Rincones led the team with four-runs scored on the night and a stolen base. Fields, Gielow and Josh Sweiderk led the Manta Rays with three RBI a piece in the victory.

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