August 1 Florence Freedom Game Notes
August 1, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE FREEDOM (26-37) vs. GATEWAY GRIZZLIES (38-27)
Friday, August 1, 2014 - 6:35 p.m. ET
UC Health Stadium - Florence, KY
Game #64 - Home Game #38 (26-37), (20-17)
LHP #33 Michael O'Neal (1-2, 5.40 ERA) vs. LHP #11 Kerry Kelley (2-4, 3.47 ERA)
Last time out...
Chance Ross hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to score Adam Taylor and the Florence Freedom (26-37) came from behind to defeat the Gateway Grizzlies (38-27) by a final score of 3-2 Thursday night. Landon Hernandez drove in the first two runs of the game for Gateway with a RBI grounder in the first and a solo home run in the fifth. Ross hit a sacrifice fly in the sixth to cut Gateway's lead to one. Then in the ninth with one away Buddy Sosnoskie singled to left. Sam Eberle drew a walk against new pitcher Chris DeBoo (4-1). With two on and one out, Jacob Tanis came up huge with a RBI single to left to score Sosnoskie and tie the game at two. Taylor drew a lead-off walk in the bottom half of the 10th. He proceeded to steal second and advance to third on a Zak Blair sacrifice bunt. Taylor's hustle allowed him to score the winning run on Ross' liner to center.
For Starters...
Michael O'Neal makes his fifth start of the season tonight for the Freedom. He is coming off a rough outing against Southern Illinois on July 27 as he went two innings, giving up three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out one in a 9-3 loss for Florence. O'Neal pitched two seasons at Auburn University after transferring from Chattahoochee Valley Community College. He threw 10 complete games for Chattahoochee Valley in 2011 as a freshman and posted a 3.65 ERA as a sophomore in 2012. O'Neal had an outstanding season for Auburn in 2013 as he went 8-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 14 starts with two complete games. He held opponents to a .223 batting average in 2013. His 89 innings pitched led the Tigers and was eighth in the SEC.
Extra! Extra!
Last night was only the Freedom's second extra-innings win of the season. They are now 2-6 when the game goes extra innings.
Rubber match...
Tonight is the rubber match of the three-game series between the Freedom and Grizzlies. Florence is 4-7 in rubber matches this season.
Come from behind...
Last night was the Freedom's 11th come from behind victory this season. However they have not overcome a deficit of more than three runs this season.
A fresh start...
Tonight is the first game of August. A welcome end to July for the Freedom who only went 9-17 last month, compared to 10-13 in June and 7-7 in May.
Five or more...
When the Freedom score five or more runs in a game they have a record of 16-8 this season. But when they score fewer than three runs they have a 3-19 record.
Kelly clicking...
Rob Kelly is hitting .308 with a home run and three RBI over the past 10 games. His average improves to .350 (7-20) over the past five games.
Offensive woes...
The Freedom's .229 team batting average is the lowest in the Frontier League. They have scored 239 runs, the fewest in the league. Their 79 doubles are also the fewest in the league.
Home is where the wins are...
The Freedom have a record of 20-17 at home in 2014. They have won seven series at home, sweeping two of them in 2014. They have only been swept once at home, by the Frontier Greys.
Tonight's Special Jersey Number...
Gaby Juarbe is wearing #61 tonight. The jersey will be auctioned off after the game to benefit the Brain Injury Alliance of Kentucky. The jersey is sponsored by Braden & Associates Law Firm.
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Frontier League Stories from August 1, 2014
- Rascals Fall Just Short, Otters Take Finale - River City Rascals
- Slammers Fall to Frontier 4-2 on Friday - Joliet Slammers
- Miners Capture Rubber Game over CornBelters - Normal CornBelters
- Freedom Can't Catch up in Loss to Gateway - Florence Y'alls
- Crushers blank T-bolts to secure sweep - Lake Erie Crushers
- Wild Things Rout Aviators 12-0 - Rockford Aviators
- Washington Pounds Rockford 12-0 - Washington Wild Things
- Grizzlies Take Down Freedom and Win Series - Gateway Grizzlies
- Phillips Paces Beach Bums Past Boomers 7-3 - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Traverse City Ends Schaumburg Win Streak - Schaumburg Boomers
- ThunderBolts Swept in Lake Erie with 6-0 Loss - Windy City ThunderBolts
- August 1 Florence Freedom Game Notes - Florence Y'alls
- Otters Seek Series Win over First Place River City - Evansville Otters
- Rascals Return the Favor, Win Game 2 - River City Rascals
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