Drive Split Doubleheader with Rome, Make up Ground in 2nd Half Chase
SAL Greenville Drive

Drive Split Doubleheader with Rome, Make up Ground in 2nd Half Chase

Published on August 7, 2025 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Greenville Drive News Release


GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Greenville Drive (53-52) split a doubleheader with the Rome Emperors (43-60) Thursday evening at Fluor Field, taking Game 1 as the designated home team 7-3 before falling narrowly 3-2 in Game 2, where they played as the visiting club on their own turf due to a makeup from a postponed contest earlier in the season.

Game 1: Drive 7, Emperors 3 - Garcia's Blast, Patient Offense, and Cohen's Arm Lead Way

Greenville jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back in the first game of the twin bill, powered by timely sacrifice flies, clutch two-out hitting, and a two-run blast from catcher Johanfran Garcia.

Starter Luis Cohen continued his dominant stretch on the mound, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings with four strikeouts and just two hits allowed, lowering his ERA to a dazzling 1.13. He was followed by Adam Smith, who secured his fifth win of the season despite a shaky seventh.

The Drive's offense was disciplined and opportunistic. They worked four walks in the first three innings, culminating in a three-run third. Sacrifice flies from Antonio Anderson and Will Turner, paired with a sharp RBI single from Juan Montero, gave the Drive a 3-0 edge and knocked Rome starter Garrett Baumann from the game after just 2.2 innings.

In the fourth, Fraymi De Leon led off with a double and scored on a fielder's choice from Yophery Rodriguez, pushing the lead to 4-0.

Greenville's biggest swing came in the sixth when Garcia hammered a two-run homer to left-center off reliever Riley Frey, driving in Henry Godbout, who had doubled. Garcia's fifth homer of the year made it 7-0.

Rome mounted a late rally in the seventh, taking advantage of a balk by Smith and stringing together three hits, including a two-run single by Colby Jones, but the damage was limited to three runs.

Offensively, Godbout (1-for-3, 2 R, 2B, BB), Rodriguez (1-for-2, 2 RBI, BB), Montero (2-for-3, RBI), and De Leon (2-for-3, 2B, 2 R) all contributed.

Game 2: Emperors 3, Drive 2 - Feliz's Two Homers Not Enough in Tight Loss

The second game featured a pitchers' duel and two loud statements from Albert Feliz, who accounted for both Greenville runs with solo home runs, one in the fifth and another in the seventh, but it wasn't enough to overcome Rome's early lead built on capitalizing Greenville's defensive miscues.

Devin Futrell, making his first start, suffered a hard-luck loss despite allowing only one earned run across 4.1 innings. He scattered six hits and didn't issue a walk, but was let down by two errors committed by third baseman Freili Encarnacion, both of which led directly to runs.

Rome struck first in the second after an errant throw from Encarnacion allowed Ambioris Tavarez to reach and later score on an RBI single by Alen Pineda. They added a second run in the fourth when Jake Steels reached on a fielding error and later came home on a groundout.

Greenville clawed one back in the fifth with Feliz's first blast, a towering shot to left-center off starter Jacob Kroeger. But Rome responded immediately in the home half, with Colby Jones, Isaiah Drake, and Mason Guerra stringing together hits. Jones eventually scored when Justin Janas was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.

Feliz tried to rally the Drive again in the seventh, clubbing his second solo homer of the night, his sixth of the year, off reliever Logan Samuels to cut the deficit to one. But the Drive couldn't muster any further offense, as Samuels retired Fraymi De Leon to end the game and earn his second save.

Feliz finished 2-for-2 with two homers, two runs, and two RBI, but the rest of the lineup was largely held in check, managing just two other hits, one from Yophery Rodriguez and one from Andruw Musett.

The Drive and Emperors continue their seven-game series Friday night at Fluor Field. Greenville now sits one game over .500 at 53-52 and remains in the thick of the playoff hunt with 21 games left in the regular season. The Drive are now only 1 game back of Hub City for second place and 1.5 games out of first behind Bowling Green who won the first half crown.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.

Check out the Greenville Drive Statistics

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 7, 2025


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