FL Florence Y'alls

Florence Drops Series Opener to Lake Erie

August 3, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release


FLORENCE, Ky - On the heels of a long road trip, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, had a quiet night at the plate in the series opener against the Lake Erie Crushers, losingl, 5-4, on Friday night at UC Health Stadium.

It took a few innings to time up Micah Beyer (1-1), but the Freedom (35-35) scored first against the Lake Erie (37-33) starter in the bottom of the fourth. In a full count, Caleb Lopes was hit by a pitch and promptly swiped second to record his first stolen bag of the season. A couple batters later, Ricky Ramirez Jr. laced a line drive to right to plate Lopes, and even though Ramirez Jr. was thrown out at second attempting to stretch a single into a double, the Freedom still held the, 1-0, lead.

Chuck Weaver (3-4) was magnificent through the first four frames, recording eight strikeouts and scattering two hits. However, in the fifth, after Zach Racusin singled, Aaron Hill came to the plate having already struck out twice. He took advantage of Weaver's first mistake pitch of the night, lifting a two-run homer to left to put the visitors in front, 2-1.

Xavier Turner quickly re-knotted the score in the home half, belting a lead-off homer, his fourth of the year, making it a, 2-2, game.

The Crushers got to Weaver again in the seventh to regain the lead, 5-2. Bryan DeLaRosa led off the frame with a double to left center and Dalton Wheat laid down a bunt for an infield hit that placed runners on the corners. One batter later, after Wheat stole second, Racusin notched his second hit of the night by doubling off the left field wal, scoring DeLaRosa and keeping two runners in scoring position. The line kept moving as Douglas Trimble cleared the bases with a double to the wall in right-center. After Weaver struck out Hill for the third time, notiching his thirteenth strikeout, southpaw Evan Korson was called upon to finish the inning. With one out and a runner at second, Korson tallied two punch-outs to preserve the, 5-2, score.

In total, Weaver allowed five runs on eight hits and did not allow a walk while striking out 13 Crushers.

Lake Erie also went to the bullpen in the seventh inning, sending righty Kent Hasler to the bump to start the frame. Beyer tossed six innings and allowed two runs on three hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

Freedom reliever, Eric Gleese took over in the eighth and worked two scoreless frames to set-up the Freedom rally in the ninth. With three strikeouts from Gleese, the Florence pitching staff combined for 17 total on the night.

In their last at-bat, facing a third Lake Erie reliever, Logan Lombana, the Freedom got a one-out single from Graylin Derke and saw Skyler Ewing hit by a pitch to bring the tying run to the plate. Keivan Berges bounced out to short, moving both runners ninety feet ahead of Austin Wobrock. Wobrock then delivered a two-out, two-run double down the line in left, pulling Florence within one while representing the tying run at second. A passed ball would move Wobrock to third, but Jimmy Heck stuck-out swinging as the Crushers escaped with a 5-4, win.

In the middle game of the series on Saturday night, righty Tyler Gibson will be called on to take the ball. Lake Erie will counter on the mound with right-hander Justin Sinibaldi. First pitch at UC Health Stadium is set for 6:05 pm.

The Florence Freedom are members of the Independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Wayin Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at florencefreedom.com, or by phone at (859) 594-4487.

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