Florence Runs Away Late from Joliet
August 26, 2014 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
(Joliet, IL) - Cincinnati native Dave Middendorf (5-7) went seven strong innings, Gaby Juarbe drove in three runs and the Florence Freedom (39-48) knocked off the Joliet Slammers (34-54) by a final score of 6-1 Tuesday night in front of 651 fans at Silver Cross Field.
Middendorf and Joliet starter Andrew Strenge (0-2) each shut down the opposition through the first four innings. But Florence broke through for two runs in the fifth. With one away Rolando Gomez drew a walk. Then with two down Adam Taylor drew a walk as well. That's when Juarbe stepped to the plate and delivered a clutch RBI single to drive in Gomez and put Florence up 1-0. Cole Miles followed with a RBI single of his own to extend the lead to 2-0.
Joliet answered in the bottom of the fifth. Adam Giacalone singled off the right field wall to start the inning. One out later Seth Granger singled. An error loaded the bases and a Middendorf wild pitch brought home the first and only run of the game for Joliet. Two groundouts ended the inning as Middendorf was able to avoid further damage.
Up by one, the Freedom held on as Joliet attempted a number of rallies. Joliet got hits in the sixth and seventh innings but their biggest threat came in the eighth against Daniel DeSimone. Chris Epps singled to lead-off the inning and Matt Weaver bunted him over. The Freedom intentionally walked Grant DeBruin and DeSimone was able to get Adrian English to hit into a fielder's choice and he struck out Giacalone to end the frame.
Florence pulled away from Joliet in the ninth. Sam Eberle walked and Jacob Tanis launched his sixth home run of the season to put the Freedom up 4-1. Buddy Sosnoskie got hit by a pitch and one out later Ryan Solberg singled to right. After Taylor walked to load the bases, Juarbe came up big again with a two-RBI single to right field and Florence took a 6-1 lead.
DeSimone tossed a scoreless ninth to preserve the win for Middendorf. The Northern Kentucky University alumnus was outstanding, going seven innings, scattering six hits, allowing only one run, walking no one and striking out three.
The Freedom look to win the series Wednesday night as they send Casey Henn (8-5, 2.69 ERA) to the mound. First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. eastern time and all the action live from Joliet, IL can be heard on http://mixlr.com/florencefreedom/.
To keep up with all the latest Florence Freedom news and to learn about exclusive deals and contests, make sure to like the team on Facebook and follow the team on Twitter.
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