Boomers Salvage Series Finale with Florence
Published on August 2, 2018 under Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
SCHAUMBURG, Il - In the regular season finale between the two teams who met in the 2017 Frontier League Championship Series, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, could not over-come four early errors in a, 9-2, loss to the Schaumburg Boomers on Thursday at Boomers Stadium.
The Boomers (36-33) jumped in front, 3-0, in the bottom of the first, scoring a pair of earned runs off Freedom (35-34) starter, Steve Hagen (6-6). Hagen retired Jack Parenty to start the frame, and after issuing a walk to Zack Weigel, rolled a potential inning ending double play ball to short off the bat of Sean Godfrey. Austin Wobrock gloved the bouncer on a back-hand, but threw wild to second, setting up runners at second and third for Ty Moore. Moore then drove a two-run double to right-center, giving the Boomers an early two-run edge. After a pair of free passes, Nick Oddo lifted a sacrifice-fly to center to plate the third and final run of the inning.
In the bottom of the third, a Godfrey lead-off double paved the way to an RBI-single from Moore, who finished the night with three runs batted in as the score moved to, 4-0, home team. Three more Freedom errors in the frame would swell the deficit to six. After Hagen fielded a come-backer off the bat of Collin Ferguson, his throw to first appeared to get lost in the sun, bouncing off Jacob Wark's glove before rolling in to right field. With Ferguson at second, Kenny Towns tapped a swinging bunt towards third but found himself standing on second moments later when Xavier Turner threw errantly to first, allowing Moore to score a second unearned run. Hagen then hit Nick Oddo with a pitch to load the bases, before striking out Darrell Miller Jr. for the first out of the inning. The next batter, Michael Hartnagel, bounced a ground-ball to third that Turner went home with for out number two. Looking for an inning ending double play, catcher Skyler Ewing spun to throw to first, but saw the ball wind up in right field as another run crossed home-plate to make it a, 6-0, game. A Parenty fly-out to center ended the inning with Hagen's unearned run total at three through three frames.
Florence would get one run back in their fourth at-bat off lefty Gunnar Kines (5-1), getting a lead-off double from Ewing. After a passed ball allowed Ewing to reach third base, Ricky Ramirez Jr. knocked a sacrifice-fly to left, pulling the Freedom within five.
Schaumburg would strike three more times in the home half of the frame, however, thanks to three RBI-singles from Ferguson, Oddo and Miller Jr. that made the score, 9-1. Hagen would not return for the fifth, ending his start after 4 tough-luck frames, surrendering nine runs, six earned, on seven hits with three walks and three whiffs. Mike Castellani and Eric Gleese would stop the bleeding in relief, tallying four shut-out innings while facing just one over the minimum.
Caleb Lopes led-off the top of the sixth with a towering home-run to left, his second big-fly of the season made it a seven-run game at, 9-2, the eventual final score.Despite the loss, Florence would go on to out-hit the Boomers eleven knocks to eight. Turner and Ewing would record multi-hit nights in the finale, with the former just missing a home run of his own, settling with his first triple of the season.
Kines went seven innings en route to his fifth win of the year, allowing two earned runs on ten hits with no walks and three strikeouts.
The Freedom will drive through the night ahead of a series opener with the Lake Erie Crushers at UC Health Stadium on Friday night, with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. ET. The Boomers will travel to historic Bosse Field, where a weekend tilt with the Evansville Otters awaits as inter-league play continues. That first pitch set for 6:35 p.m.
The Florence Freedom are members of the Independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at florencefreedom.com, or by phone at (859) 594-4487.
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