Hometown heroes | Manatee's Cord Sandberg goes on tear during Threshers' winning streak
The Threshers, the Phillies' Class A Advanced affiliate in the Florida State League, reeled off six straight home wins from April 19 through Sunday, and Cord Sandberg was at the center of the Clearwater's streak. The former Manatee outfielder went 9 for 19 with six walks and a double -- good for a .474 batting average and 1.126 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
Sandberg, who plays in the same league as the Marauders but the opposite division, won't make a trip to Bradenton until a four-game series at McKechnie Field from July 17-20. His strong week raised his batting average to .327 and on-base percentage to .424 entering Tuesday's game against the Tortugas in Daytona Beach.
Granden Goetzman
The former Palmetto outfielder has finally gotten going for Double A Montgomery, a Rays affiliate, after sluggish start for the Biscuits. Goetzmann batted only .233 in his first nine games for Montgomery, but has elevated that to .271 with a mini-hot streak that continued in an 11-10 win against Double A Jacksonville on Tuesday.
Goetzman has hit safely in five of his last seven games and has batted .310 during that stretch. The highlight, though, came on the base paths. On Sunday, Goetzman stole four bases in a win against Jacksonville.
Goetzman also drew his third walk of the season Tuesday. He's hit one home run, driven in 10 and scored 11 runs.
Ashley Bongart
The former Lakewood Ranch state champion, and last year's Herald All-Area Player of the Year, concluded her freshman season at Tennessee with an individual victory, although the Volunteers' season with a 4-3 loss to No. 40 Mississippi in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Bongart, who played No. 6 singles, finished her season with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 win against Ole Miss' Marija Milutinovic to cap a .500 season in singles play. Bongart went 8-8 as an individual and 6-10 as a doubles player this season.
Courtney Mirabella
Two solid starts for Mirabella didn't matter this week -- North Carolina State lost both and the former Braden River pitcher's record dropped to 12-15.
Mirabella's first start of the weekend came in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday against Boston College. The sophomore pitched a seven-inning complete game while allowing 10 hits, two walks and three earned runs, and striking out six. The Eagles' starting pitcher countered with a shutout.
Her second outing Sunday against BC was shorter. Mirabella went four innings while allowing seven hits and one earned run. Errors, however, meant she allowed four total runs and Boston College was able to win 5-2.
David Wilson, Herald sports writer, can be contacted at 941-745-7057 or on Twitter@DBWilson2.
This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 11:37 PM with the headline "Hometown heroes | Manatee's Cord Sandberg goes on tear during Threshers' winning streak ."