Morehead City, NC – The Marlins cruised to victory on Monday night against the Wake Forrest Fungo in exhibition play, as they secured the 5-1 win. Brock Gillis (Portland) got the start for the Marlins, as they would send five to the bump in the seven-inning exhibition game. Cale Bolton got the start for the Fungo, and he would allow a lot of traffic on the basepath early despite not giving up a hit. Two walks and a fielder’s choice left two runners on for the Marlins in the bottom of the first, but no runs came across to score. After Gillis retired the Fungo 1-2-3 in order in the top of the second, the bats went back to work. With two outs, Bolton walked the bases loaded for a premiere scoring opportunity for the Marlins, but Bolton got McGwire Tuffy (Quinnipiac) to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the threat. Both teams would be no-hit through two innings, as the offenses would get set to work in the third.
Chas DeBruhl (Francis Marion) came on in relief of Gillis in the third inning and showed his composure after the Fungo loaded the bases by not allowing a run to score. The bottom of the third would prove to be the big inning that the Marlins were searching for on the offensive side. Phillip Bernstein (Richmond) led off the inning with a single, and advanced to second on an error by the Fungo shortstop. With Evan Scavotto (Portland) at the plate, Bernstein advanced to third on a passed ball by Fungo backstop Jackson Rutecki and scored the first run of the night. After the Fungo recorded two straight Marlin outs, the 2-out magic kicked into gear. Zach Marriott (Hendrix College) doubled to drive in Scavotto before he would later come into score on an error by Fungo second baseman Jayson Arendt. With the score at 3-0, the Marlins weren’t done yet. Campbell would come across the plate on a Trent Youngblood (Transylvania) RBI single to push the score to 4-0 after three innings.
The Marlin bats remained hot in the fourth inning as they would plate another run against Fungo hurler Dawson Smith. Scavotto doubled ahead of Marriott, who got his second RBI of the night on a single to bring home the fifth Marlins run of the night. After a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, Kevin Opanel (Monmouth) had a different outcome in the top of the fifth He allowed the first Fungo run of the night to come across on a Arednt RBI single. This brought the score to 5-2, but Opanel recovered well and locked it down to end the frame only allowing one run.
A pair of Marlins made their season debuts on the mound, as Michael Quevedo (Nicholls St.) pitched the top of the sixth and mowed down all three hitters he faced with strikeouts in stellar fashion. Sebastian Mejia (Texas Rio Grande Valley) came on in the top of the seventh and allowed a single to the first hitter he faced but rallied to retire the final two batters of the game on a strikeout and a double play.
The Marlins continue CPL play with a trip to Hampton, Virginia on Tuesday night to War Memorial Stadium. The game will be streamed live on the Marlins Mixlr channel. First pitch is scheduled for 7PM.