Freedom Escape Shutout in Middle Game Defeat
August 24, 2019 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
EVANSVILLE, In - Hoping to secure a series victory on Saturday night, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, were on the losing end of a, 10-1, game two with the Evansville Otters at historic Bosse Field.
Evansville (53-36) southpaw, Austin Nicely was spectacular on the hill, sitting down the first nine batters he faced on the way to his sixth win of the year.
Freedom (52-37) lefty, George Faue (2-4) pitched around a pair of walks in a clean bottom of the first, but saw the Otters storm in front with a five-run, five-hit barrage in the home half of the second. Hunter Cullen followed a one-out double from Tanner Wetrich with a single that put runners on the corners, before a potential inning ending double-play ball was sabotaged by an error. Rob Calabrese rolled a grounder to third, but Taylor Bryant threw wildly to second, the ball sailing into right field as Wetrich scored to make the score, 1-0. David Cronin added an RBI one-bagger next, and Ryan Long plated two with his first hit of the series, a double, that extended the lead to, 4-0. Elijah MacNamee chipped in a sacrifice-fly after the double, the score moving to, 5-0, after two. After Faue faced the minimum in the third, the Otters got back to work in the bottom of the fourth, MacNamee delivering a two-run double ahead of an RBI-single from Dakota Phillips as the home team took an, 8-0, lead.
Faue finished his night after five innings, allowing eight runs, six earned, on eight hits with three walks and five strikeouts in his fourth loss of the season.
With knuckle-baller, Chris Amend on the bump in the sixth, the Otters made it a ten-run game, Amend walking in a run before Taylor Lane lined a sacrifice-fly with the bases loaded.
Nicely was pulled after seven shut-out innings, appearing to have suffered an injury as Trace Norkus was thrust in to action when no pitcher took the field in the eighth. Nicely allowed four hits and struck out five in his first victory over the Freedom in 2019.
Trailiing, 10-0, with Norkus still toeing the rubber in the ninth, Connor Crane followed a two-out double from Austin Wobrock with an RBI-single to right, breaking the shut-out and making the score, 10-1. Norkus would coax Luis Pintor into a pop-out next, sealing the nine-run, series evening victory for the Otters.
These two West Division rivals will square-off one final time in the regular season on Sunday afternoon at historic Bosse Field. Lefty, Mike Castellani (8-2, 2.73) will toe the slab for the Freedom, opposite righty, Tyler Beardsley (8-3, 2.63) for Evansville.
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.
Frontier League Stories from August 24, 2019
- Freedom Escape Shutout in Middle Game Defeat - Florence Y'alls
- Boomers outlast Crushers in 13 inning marathon - Lake Erie Crushers
- Boomers Outlast Crushers in Marathon Win - Schaumburg Boomers
- Grizzlies Shut out Rascals, Win Third Straight - Gateway Grizzlies
- Rascals Blanked by Grizzlies - River City Rascals
- Austin Strong in Wild Things' Defeat - Washington Wild Things
- Miners Score Late to Take Series from Washington - Southern Illinois Miners
- ThunderBolts Bounce Back with 4-1 Win - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Freedom Win in 11 Innings over Otters - Evansville Otters
- Freedom Prevail in Extra Inning Slobber Knocker - Florence Y'alls
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
