Freedom Bats Go Silent against Normal
Published on July 25, 2018 under Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE, Ky - Looking to take the series in the middle-game, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, struggled at the dish and on the bump in a, 7-3, loss to the Normal CornBelters on Wednesday at UC Health Stadium.
The Freedom (31-30) started strong against Cornbelters (29-30) starter Jacinto Garcia (4-2), plating the games first run in the bottom of the first. Harrison White got things started with a single to center, and Jordan Brower made it runners on second and third with his eighth double of the season. After Skyler Ewing walked to load the bases, Xavier Turner plated the first of three runs batted in on the night with a sacrifice fly to right, giving Florence a, 1-0, edge after one.
Florence starter Christian DeLeon (4-3) entered his eighth start with 16 scoreless innings in tow, and watched that number blossom to 19.2 before the Belters ended the streak in the top of the fourth. Justin Fletcher and Jacob Bissell singled and doubled, respectively, before Michael Baca laced a two-run single to right to give Normal the, 2-1, lead. The second run was unearned, as Ricky Ramirez Jr. bobbled the ball in right field allowing Bissell to touch home on the play.
Normal doubled their run total in th fifth, thanks to a two-run homer from Derrick Loveless, his seventh big-fly of the year.
DeLeon continued to battle into the sixth, but the Cornbelters chased him from the game with two outs after taking a, 5-1, advantage. Chirino delivered the final blow, scoring Baca on a double to the gap in right-center. Mike Castellani was called on to finish the frame, and after issuing a walk, got Andrew Godbold to line out to right to end the inning.
The final line for DeLeon included five runs, four earned on 10 hits over 5.2 innings with three walks and no strikeouts.
The scoring persisted for Normal in the seventh, as they struck for one more off Castellani to increase their lead to, 6-1. Baca continued a great game at the dish, scoring Erickson with a line-drive single to center. The Belters made it five straight innings of at-least one run scored in the eighth, getting to Eric Gleese in his first inning of relief. A passed ball after a double from Chirino gave Normal a runner at third base before Loveless worked a walk to put runners on the corners. Andrew Godbold then delivered a broken bat single to center to score Chirino as the visiting team took a, 7-1, lead. One batter later, the Freedom tallied the first triple play in team history on a fly-out to center off the bat of Nick Cain. With Loveless taking off early from second base on the fly-ball, Florence was able to relay from center to second to record out number two. Godbold attempting to tag-up from first to second on the play, found himself in a run-down, eventually tagged out by Jacob Wark to end the inning.
Having retired twenty straight batters, Garcia took the hill looking for a complete-game in the ninth, but watched Florence rally for a couple of runs. After two quick outs were recorded in succession, Jordan Brower rolled a single into right to end Garcia's consecutive batters retired streak at 22. Ewing followed with a single of his own to move Brower to third, before swiping second on defensive indifference to put a pair of runners in scoring position for Turner. Turner delievered again, lacing a two-run double down the right field line to pull the home team within four at, 7-3. Florence would not score again, however, as Ramirez Jr. popped out in foul ground to end the game.
Garcia surrendered three runs on five hits, but allowed only seven base-runners all night on his way to the complete-game victory. The right-hander walked one and struck out a pair as the Belters setup a rubber-match in Thursday's finale.
Florence will look for their sixth series victory in their last seven on Thursday, trotting out 2018 All-Star Steve Hagen opposite former Freedom hurler Zach Kirby for Normal. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. at UC Health Stadium.
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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