Pitelli swats two of four Daytona homers in seesaw battle for first home win
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla—Trey Faltine tied the game with a two-run ninth-inning home run and Dominic Pitelli’s second longball of the night won it three batters later as the Daytona Tortugas hit four home runs in the final four innings to outslug the Palm Beach Cardinals 8-7 on Wednesday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.
Daytona (3-3) earned their first home win of the season in memorable fashion as the Tortugas and Palm Beach (4-2) exchanged the lead seven times in a game that ended with the first walk-off homer by a Daytona batter since May 24, 2022.
Both starting pitchers started off strong, with Daytona starter Brian Edgington striking out four of the first six batters over two perfect innings. He allowed a leadoff single in the third, but then punched out two more to throw a scoreless frame.
Palm Beach starter Jason Savacool also worked two scoreless innings to start the night before Daytona mounted a threat in the third, loading the bases with one outs. However, a foulout and strikeout allowed the right-hander to escape the threat.
In the fourth, though, Daytona scored in an unconventional manner as Yerlin Confidan walked, moved to third on a Yassel Pino single, then scored on a balk by Savacool to stake Daytona to a 1-0 lead.
Edgington became the first Tortugas starter to work into the fifth this season. However, he was greeted by a 422-foot blast from Brayden Jobert that tied the game at one. Edgington did settle down and finish the inning, leaving in a 1-1 game after going 5.0 innings, allowing a run on four hits with no walks and six strikeouts.
In the sixth, the game began it’s seesaw nature. After Jonah Hurney entered to pitch for Daytona, a solo home run from Chase Davis gave Palm Beach the lead, only for a two-run blast from Carter Graham in the bottom half of the frame to give Daytona a 3-2 lead.
Palm Beach answered with two more runs in the seventh, thanks in part to a pair of triples and an infield single to wrestle the lead back.
Pitelli, though, provided his first blast of the night in the seventh, crushing a two-out, two-run shot down the right field line. Daytona now led once more, 5-4.
In the eighth, Hurney retired the first two Cardinals of the inning. However, the next two reached, bringing Simon Miller into the contest. Miguel Villarroel, though, crushed his second triple of the night to bring in both runners. An RBI single followed to put the Cardinals up 7-5.
After a double play ended the bottom of the eighth, it appeared the magic might’ve been gone for Daytona. Miller (1-1), though, spun a 1-2-3 ninth to set the stage for the late heroics.
Pino led off the bottom of the ninth against Augusto Calderon with his second hit of the night, a single up the middle. Faltine then stepped up and lifted a 2-2 pitch to right. A strong wind that had been blasting out to right all night boosted Faltine’s fly just over the right-field fence for a two-run shot to tie the game.
Calderon buckled down and retired the next two men, bringing Pitelli to the plate. On an 0-1 pitch, the Tortuga second baseman stroked a line drive to deep right that just cleared the fence, sending the Tortugas home victorious with the walk-off, 8-7 victory.
The Tortugas will play game four of a six-game series against the Palm Beach Cardinals on Wednesday night. Daytona will start RHP Jose Montero (1-0, 0.00) against Palm Beach LHP Quinn Mathews (0-0, 2.70). Tomorrow is Daytona Beach Night and our first Fireworks Friday of the season. First pitch from Jackie Robinson Ballpark is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. with gates opening at 5:30. Pregame coverage on the Tortugas Radio network with Brennan Mense begins at 6:20 p.m.
