Jack Toomey hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning, giving the St. Lucie Mets a 6-2 victory over the Lakeland Flying Tigers on Saturday night at Clover Park in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The win snapped St. Lucie’s seven-game losing streak. It was Toomey’s first professional home run.
The game was tied 1-1 after regulation. Zach MacDonald drove in Lakeland’s run with a fourth-inning RBI single, while Reed Stallman scored St. Lucie’s regulation run in the eighth inning on a wild pitch by Leonardo Rosell. Toomey went 2-for-5 to lead all hitters.
Michael Oliveto gave the Flying Tigers a 2-1 lead with a one-out RBI double against Zack Mack in the top of the 10th. Vladi Gomez tied the game with a sacrifice fly against Bryce Alewin in the bottom half. Ryan Tayman walked and Bohan Adderley singled before Alewin hit Kuhio Aloy with a pitch to load the bases for Toomey’s decisive swing.
Zack Mack earned the win after pitching the ninth and 10th innings and allowing one run in the 10th. Lakeland starter Kelvis Salcedo pitched 4 2/3 scoreless innings with no walks and six strikeouts. Joel Lara worked four innings of long relief, allowing one run on two hits with four walks and three strikeouts, and Ernesto Mercedes added two hitless innings.
Aiden Keenan and AJ Krodel made their professional debuts for St. Lucie. Keenan pitched a scoreless first inning with one strikeout, while Krodel pitched a perfect second inning with two strikeouts. Both teams recorded five hits.
Toomey was signed out of Boston College after the draft. Keenan was selected in the seventh round out of Stanford, and Krodel was selected in the 12th round out of UC Santa Barbara. The St. Lucie Mets entered the game at 18-34 in the series standings and 51-67 overall, while the Lakeland Flying Tigers entered at 26-25 in the series standings and 57-59 overall.
The teams will conclude their six-game series Sunday at 12:10 p.m. Sunday is Little League Day. Little leaguers wearing their jerseys will receive free admission.
Source: Original report