Bryce Rainer launches prodigious HR in Lakeland while Max Clark stays hot

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St. Paul Saints 4, Toledo Mud Hens 3 (box)

The Hens lost an early lead in the middle innings, and a late push fell short on Friday night.

After a quiet start to this one, Ben Malgeri singled with one out in the bottom of the third, and Max Clark followed by drawing a walk. Hao-Yu Lee banged a single up the middle to plate Malgeri, and Jace Jung smoked a drive to the wall in right field for an RBI double, scoring Clark. 2-0 Hens.

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Unfortunately, that lead didn’t hold up in the middle innings as starter RHP Dylan File and RHP Cole Waites each allowed a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings. It could have been worse for Waites, but Max Clark cut down Alan Roden at home plate to save that run and get the second out before Waites escaped the inning.

RHP Tanner Rainey and LHP Konnor Pilkington each gave the Hens two good innings of work to set up a comeback. They got runners on base in the sixth, but Malgeri flew out to end the inning. In the seventh, the Loons bid to prevent Max Clark from getting a hit failed as he led off with a single. Lee took a called strike three, but Clark stole second for his sixth steal of the season. Unfortunately, Jung popped out and Eduardo Valencia struck out.

The Loons got the first two outs of the ninth, but Clark got a 1-0 curveball down and smoked it to right center field for a triple. The relay went awry, and Clark scored on the play to make it 4-3, but Lee flew out to end it.

Clark: 2-4, 2 R, 3B, BB, K, SB

Lee: 2-5, RBI, K

Malgeri: 1-4, BB, K, SB

File: 4.0 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 5:05 p.m. ET start on Saturday with the series tied 2-2.

Chesapeake Baysox 11, Erie SeaWolves 6 (box)

Kenny Serwa took another beating in this one, and the bats were pretty quiet as the Baysox took a 3-1 lead in the series.

Serwa gave up a leadoff homer in the second, and that led into a five run inning for Chesapeake against the knuckleballer.

Joe Campagna walked to lead off the third, and he would eventually score on a John Peck groundout to make it 5-1 early in this one, but Serwa allowed another run in the third before finishing his outing with a clean fourth.

In the fifth, Campagna doubled and eventually scored on a Seth Stephenson grounder that went from an error as they desperately tried to rush to get the lightning fast outfielder at first.

In the sixth, Andrew Jenkins and Izaac Pacheco walked before scoring on a Justice Bigbie double to make it 6-4 Baysox.

John Stankiewicz took over in the seventh, but he got in trouble with a wild pitch and a Peck error before giving up a three-run blast in a four-run inning for the Baysox that made it 10-4.

Tanner Kohlhepp allowed a run in the eighth. In the ninth, Campagna hit a two-run shot to make the score a little more respectable. The 29-year-old shortstop bounced around Indy ball for years, occasionally playing in the minor leagues before the Tigers signed him for some depth this offseason.

Campagna: 2-3, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2B, HR, BB, K, SB

Bigbie: 2-4, R, 2 RBI, 2B

Serwa (L, 0-2): 4.o IP, 6 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 0 K

Rodriguez: 2.0 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:35 p.m. ET start on Saturday, with the Baysox leading the series 3-1.

Great Lakes Loons 3, West Michigan Whitecaps 2 (box)

Lucas Ellisalt wasn’t particularly sharp on Friday night, and the Whitecaps bats were very quiet as the Loons took a 3-1 series lead.

Both offenses were quiet out of the gate, but in the third, a one-out single from the Loons’ Jose Izarra got them started. Elissalt got a fly out, but four straight singles made it 3-0 before he got out of the inning.

Woody Hadeen got a run back in the bottom half as he walked with one out and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jackson Strong struck out, but Garrett Pennington walked as well, and Richardo Hurtado singled in Hadeen to make it 3-1.

Elissalt spun a 1-2-3 fourth, and Patrick Lee immediately crushed a solo shot to dead center to make it 3-2. Patrick Lee has 70 speed, a 70 arm, and at least 60 power. Please, oh baseball gods, let this man hit. Unlikely, as Lee had to find a path through Indy Ball just to reach the minor leagues, but it would sure be fun.

Lefty Ethan Sloan, along with Carlos Lequerica and Logan Berrier, shut down the Tortugas offense entirely the rest of the way, but the Whitecaps weren’t not swinging a hot bat either. They never threatened again.

Lee: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, K

Hadeen: 1-3, R, BB, K

Elissalt (L, 0-1): 4.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, BB, 5 K

Coming Up Next: The Whitecaps and Loons play at 2:00 p.m. ET on Saturday and Sunday. No respect for the Masters at all, smdh.

Lakeland Flying Tigers 2, Daytona Tortugas 1 (box)

The Flying Tigers cannot be contained right now. They moved to 7-0 on the young season behind another strong outing from 2025 second rounder, Malachi Witherspoon, and the longest home run I can ever remember a Tigers prospect hitting off the bat of shortstop Bryce Rainer.

Witherspoon have come right out throwing gas as hoped, and he was an easy 96 mph in the first inning, carving up two Tortugas swinging with some good cutters in the mix. He was up over 97 mph in a quick 1-2-3 second inning. In the third, he got the first out but walked Ichiro Cano and hit Drew Davies to push a runner into scoring position. He got a one-hopper back to himself and recorded the second out, but a single followed for a 1-0 Daytona lead. That was the only blemish on Witherspoon’s card as he breezed through the fourth and the Tigers called it a day as they slowly build up his pitch count.

Here’s a little Zach MacDonald highlight along the way.

After Witherspoon departed, the Tigers third ranked prospect, Bryce Rainer stepped in looking for his first home run of the young season. Rainer has been fine, but after missing the best part of a year to shoulder surgery, he’s been working his way back into things slowly and drawing a ton of walks. He didn’t walk this time, destroying a 96.7 mph fastball and hitting it 477 feet beyond the center field wall. That ball left the bat at 116.2 mph, which few even in the majors can match. With the Artemis II crew splashing down off the coast of Florida at around the same time, the jokes wrote themselves.

Look at this thing.

Tyler Owens took over from Witherspoon to continue his rehab work, and he collected the next five outs, allowing just one hit. Eliseo Mota did better, spinning 2 1/3 perfect innings with four strikeouts.

The score was knotted at 1-1 until the bottom of the 8th, when Nolan McCarthy drew a walk. He promptly stole second base and took third as the throw sailed into center field. Anibal Salas struck out, and Jack Goodman waked and stole second as Rainer was called out on strikes. The run was then balked in anyway to give Lakeland a 2-1 lead.

Xiomer Guacache, what a great name btw, came on in the top of the ninth and quickly racked up three outs, the last a swinging strike three, to end it and earn his first save of the season.

Rainer: 1-4, R, RBI, HR, 2 SO

McCarthy: 0-1, R, 2 BB, SB

Witherspoon: 4.0 IPO, ER, H, BB, 4 K

Coming Up Next: It’s a 6:00 p.m. ET start in Lakeland on Saturday as the Flying Tigers look to make it 8-0.

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