Freedom Rout Grizzlies in Series Opener
August 24, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE, Ky - In the opening game of the final home-stand of the season, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, unleashed offensively and never looked back en route to a, 14-3, win over the Gateway Grizzlies at UC Health Stadium.
The Freedom (45-43) imposed their will in the bottom of the first off Gateway (36-52) starter Mike Elwood (6-8). Austin Wobrock and Caleb Lopes singled to start the game, and Ricky Ramirez Jr. went to the opposite field for his ninth home run of the season. His homer to left-center gave Florence a comfortable, 3-0, lead.
Gateway scratched across their first run against Freedom starter Chuck Weaver (5-4) with two outs in the third. Cody Livesay doubled to begin the inning and moved to third on a bounce-out in front of the plate from Shane Mardirosian. Blake Brown then shot a double to the wall in right to plate Livesay and make it a two-run game.
The long-ball paid dividends again in the third for Florence. With Skyler Ewing on first after a single, Keivan Berges took sole possession of first on the team with his sixteenth blast of the season, increasing the Freedom lead to, 5-1.
Florence pulled away for good in the fifth, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring six runs on six hits. Ewing was able to leg out a grounder on the infield to reach on a fielder's choice, andBerges singled him into scoring position. With both runners stealing, JordanBrower doubled to right center to score both runners. Jimmy Heck responded by singlingBrower to third and chasing Elwood from the game. The right-hander tossed 4.1 innings, and was charged with nine runs, eight earned, on 12 hits with two walks and a strikeout.
Connor Leedholm entered and promptly surrendered an RBI- knock to Ryan Rinsky. As Brower scored from third, Livesay threw towards the plate, but the ball skipped away to the backstop and allowed Heck to trot home as the score reached, 9-1. The line kept moving when John Price Jr. worked a walk, and brought up Wobrock with two men on base. The lead-off hitter grounded to short, but in an attempt to get the double-play, shortstop Brent Sakurai air-mailed the toss to first base, granting Rinsky to cross home-plate. Lopes completed the scoring in the frame with an RBI ground-rule double that plated Wobrock, and pushed the Freedom ahead, 11-1.
The Freedom were aided by defensive miscues in the sixth as they expanded their lead, again. Berges reached with a single, before a pair of Grizzlies errors loaded the bases. In the jam, Gateway skipper, Phil Warren, summoned lefty, Colton Freeman from the bullpen. Freeman proceeded to issue back-to-back walks to Rinsky and Price Jr., scoring another pair of runs for the home team.
Evan Korson took over for Weaver to begin the eighth, after the Freedom hurler produced another quality start. Weaver spanned seven brilliant innings, allowing only one run on three hits to go along with four whiffs and a walk.
Korson walked a couple of Grizzlies in the eighth, setting-up a two-run double off the bat of Brown. Brown plated all three Gateway runs in the game, finishing 2-4 with a pair of doubles and three RBI. That would be all the visitors would get in the frame, before Korson struck out the side.
Cody Gray entered in the ninth, and struck-out the side himself, sealing the, 14-3, Freedom victory.
Florence will look to take the series on Saturday night, sending righty Christian DeLeon to the hill opposite right-hander, Taso Stathopoulos for the Grizzlies. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM 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 Way in Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at florencefreedom.com, or by phone at (859) 594-4487.
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