FL Florence Y'alls

August 31 Florence Freedom Double Header Game Notes

August 31, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release


Sunday, August 31, 2014 - 5:05 p.m. ET

Bosse Field - Evansville, IN

Games #92 & #93 - Road Games #41 & #42 (40-51), (12-28)

Game One: RHP #23 Chuck Weaver (6-6, 2.43 ERA) vs. RHP #28 Connor Little (2-0, 0.90 ERA)

Game Two: LHP #30 Dave Middendorf (5-7, 4.81 ERA) vs. RHP #9 Edgar Lopez (1-0, 3.00 ERA )

Last time out...

The Otters (54-34) edged the Freedom (40-51) by scores of 3-1 and 4-3 in Friday's double header. Jorge Marban (4-6) struck out a career-high 12 Otters in game one of the double header over five innings of work but suffered the loss. A home run off the bat of Chris Sweeney and a wild pitch later in the second inning gave the Otters an early 2-0 lead. A Rolando Gomez RBI single put the Freedom on the board in the fifth but they failed to score any more runs after that. A J.R. Higley RBI single in the sixth gave the Otters an insurance run and Eric Massingham picked up the save with a scoreless seventh. Florence grabbed an early 1-0 lead in game two but Shayne Houck launched a three-run home run in the bottom of the first. Florence would fall behind 4-1 and cut the deficit to 4-2 in the sixth and 4-3 in the seventh. But they ultimately fell short as they lost their fourth straight at Bosse Field.

For Starters Game One...

2014 Frontier League Mid-Season All-Star Chuck Weaver makes his 17th start of the season tonight for the Freedom. He is coming off a defeat against the Southern Illinois Miners on August 24 as he went seven and a third innings, giving up six runs, five earned, on eight hits. He walked one and struck out six in the 8-4 loss. Weaver faced Evansville on May 31 and suffered a tough-luck defeat as he went eight innings, giving up one run on seven hits, striking out five batters in a 1-0 loss. Weaver was signed by the Freedom in June 2013 after he finished up his collegiate career at IPFW. He had a solid rookie season, posting a 4-2 record with a 3.70 ERA in 14 appearances, 12 starts. The Ft. Wayne, Ind. native started 13 games as a senior for the Mastadons, posting a 2-5 with a 3.57 ERA. Weaver threw two complete games as a senior and pitched 70.2 innings. He played two years for IPFW after transferring from Vincennes University where he was named to the NJCAA All-Academic team.

For Starters Game Two...

Cincinnati native Dave Middendorf makes his 19th start of the season tonight for the Freedom. He is coming off an outstanding outing against the Joliet Slammers on August 26 as he went seven innings of one-run ball, scattering six hits and striking out three without walking anyone in the 6-1 victory. Middendorf beat Evansville on June 1, going seven innings in that game, scattering five hits, allowing only two runs, one of which was earned, striking out a season-high seven without walking anyone in the 4-2 win. The Freedom acquired Middendorf in a trade from the Lake Erie Crushers on March 12, 2014. He was one of the top pitchers in the entire Frontier League in 2013, going 12-7 with a 2.60 ERA in 21 games, 19 starts for the Crushers. He was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 22nd Round of the 2011 MLB Draft out of Northern Kentucky University. Middendorf was originally selected by the Yankees in the 44th round one year earlier, but went back to school instead. He pitched two years in the Royals' minor league system, reaching as high as Idaho Falls (Pioneer League). He went 3-4 with a 6.28 ERA over those two seasons with three saves. He made 39 appearances, all in a relief role and struck out 52 while walking 19 over 67.1 innings of work. Middendorf was named an NCAA Division II first-team All-American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association after posting a 9-3 record with a 1.73 earned run average. His 127 strikeouts in 2011 set a new single-season record at NKU and were good for second among all Division II pitchers. He also set a career mark for strikeouts with 349 over his four years with the Norse. His 25 career wins rank third all-time at NKU and his 2.53 career ERA is fourth. Along with the All-Americans honors, Middendorf was named the Great Valley Conference and Midwest Region pitcher of the year.

Hey now, you're an All-Star!

Infielder Sam Eberle was named a 2014 Frontier League Post-Season All-Star today. He leads the league in On Base Percentage at .450 and was also a Mid-Season All-Star.

Let's play two...

The Freedom's record in double headers this season is 11-15.

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Frontier League Stories from August 31, 2014


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