Marauders clinch playoff berth

In their first season of operation, the Bradenton Marauders are headed to the playoffs - something their parent club, the Pittsburgh Pirates, haven't done since 1992.

Thanks to a 4-2 win on the road Saturday over the Charlotte Stone Crabs, the Marauders clinched the second-half crown in the South Division of the Florida State League.

Game 1 of the first-round playoff series with the Stone Crabs, who won the first-half title, is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday at McKechnie Field. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday at the McKechnie Field box office.

Ticket prices are the same as the regular season.

The best-of-three series will move to Charlotte for Games 2 and 3, if necessary, on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The winner of the series will move on to the best-of-five championship series against the winner of the North Division series between the Dunedin Blue Jays and the Tampa Yankees.

In Saturday's clinching win, designated hitter Jordan Newton put the Marauders ahead to stay with a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

Robbie Grossman scored on a wild pitch in the seventh for the game's final run.

Nathan Adcock was the winning pitcher for Bradenton, his 11th victory of the season. Adcock allowed two earned runs in 5 2/3 innings and has a 3.38 ERA this year with 131 strikeouts in 141 1/3 innings.

Quincy Latimore and Adam Davis each had two hits on the night for the Marauders, who are 37-30 in the second half and have an overall record of 76-61 in their inaugural season.