On Sunday the Daytona Tortugas took the field for their final time in 2017. Manager Ricky Gutierrez and Blake Butler decided to have plenty of fun in the final contest of the year. Butler was chosen to play all nine positions in the game – one in each inning. He began the game at first base and moved around the infield from there, sliding to his right each time before heading into the outfield 5th inning. In the 8th inning Butler would take over behind the plate and he caught a perfect inning. With a 3-0 lead and heading to the 9th inning, Butler took the mound for the 7th time this season. He gave up two hits, but escaped the jam with a ground ball double play to end the game and pick up the save.
Shane Mardirosian finishes 2017 strong
When the 2017 season began, it began without Shane Mardirosian. He wouldn’t make his debut until May 21st. He joined Daytona, but after two-and-a-half weeks he was sent to Dayton to play with the Dragons. While there he would play sparingly at times and never seemed to really get things going offensively.
In the middle of August the Reds promoted Shane Mardirosian back to Advanced-A Daytona. He was put into the lineup almost every day moving forward and he found himself seeing beach balls (probably). In the 17 games down the stretch the 21-year-old went on a big time run. He hit .348/.400/.515 for the Tortugas to finish out the season in 66 at-bats. That came with seven walks, five doubles and two home runs.
Andy Sugilio continues to hit in Billings
On Sunday afternoon Andy Sugilio continued to hit for the Billings Mustangs. He went 4-6 with a double, triple, scored three runs and drove in three more. The 20-year-old outfielder raised his average to .350 on the season, but he’s been even better over the last five weeks. Since the start of August he’s hit .398 for the Mustangs.