Goncalves gives Miracle dramatic 9-8 win
Jhon Goncalves delivered a walk-off RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap the Fort Myers Miracle’s 9-8 victory Tuesday night over the Charlotte Stone Crabs at Hammond Stadium.
After blowing a six-run lead in the top of the eighth inning, the Miracle began the ninth trailing 8-7. Oswaldo Arcia led off with a hustle double to left-center field on an 0-2 pitch from Charlotte closer Josh Satow. The 20-year-old exhibited his speed by taking second on an aggressive show of base running. Arcia finished 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles.
Danny Rams flew out to left and Anderson Hidalgo grounded out to second allowing Arcia to reach third. With two outs and the left-handed Satow on the mound, Jake Mauer pinch-hit Ramon Santana for Steve Liddle. On a full count, Santana grounded deep into the hole at shortstop. Florida State League All-Star Hak-Ju Lee fielded the ball and unleashed a one-hop throw to first base. Santana was called safe and Arcia raced home to tie the game 8-8.
The Miracle weren’t finished in the ninth after evening the score. Jamaal Hawkins picked up his second base hit with a ground ball up the middle and Hawkins beat the throw to first. With runners on first and second, Goncalves stepped to the plate.
Going 0-for-5 until his final at-bat, Goncalves laced a first-pitch fastball into left-center and Santana raced home standing up to send the fans into a celebration frenzy. Goncalves’ had just one hit in his last 21 at-bats entering into his final plate appearance Tuesday.
Earlier in the game, the Miracle received another solid start by lefty Logan Darnell. The groundball specialist scattered eight hits through six innings, allowing only one unearned run with one strikeout. Darnell left the game with a 4-1 lead that became 7-1 by the end of the seventh.
In relief of Darnell, Edgar Ibarra pitched a scoreless seventh before running into trouble in the eighth. The Stone Crabs sent 10 hitters to the plate in a six-hit, seven-run inning that featured a two-run homer by Mike Sheridan and a three-run shot by Dustin Biell off reliever Matt Hauser.
Merril Kelly started for the Stone Crabs, throwing 3 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on three hits with six walks and fanning four.
The Miracle received multi-hit nights from Aaron Hicks, Nick Romero, Arcia, and Hawkins. Hicks went 2-for-4 with a run scored while Romero had a pair of singles and two RBI. Steve Liddle went 1-for-2 with two RBI and two walks.
Matt Hauser (1-1) picked up the win for the Miracle and Satow (3-4) got the loss.
The Miracle (36-40) welcome the St. Lucie Mets (41-34) to Hammond Stadium for a three-game series beginning Wednesday.


