FL Florence Y'alls

Freedom Take Rubber Game 1-0 - Bowlin, bullpen toss shutout

by Chris Meiman
June 4, 2005 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls


Jason Bowlin scattered four hits in pitching seven shutout innings to lead the Florence Freedom to a 1-0 win over the Evansville Otters to take the series 2-1. Left fielder Brandon Cornell's infield single in the bottom of the second inning scored Trevor Hall with the game's only run.

Bowlin and relievers Justin Fuller and Lenny Bays made that run stand up as the Freedom pitched their first shutout of the season. Right fielder Mike Galloway went 1 for 4 and has had a hit in each of the 9 games the Freedom has played. Galloway is hitting .410 on the season and is 5th in hitting and is still among the league leaders in home runs, RBI, hits, Slugging percentage, and extra base hits. Galloway is tied with Hall for leadership in home runs with 4 a piece. Hall extended his hitting streak to 7 on his 1 for 4 day. Bowlin was much better than his first start of the season. Last week, Bowlin gave up 5 runs over 5 1/3 innings to Chillicothe in a 9-5 loss. On Friday, Bowlin picked up his first win of the season, striking out eight and walking only one. Fuller and Bays each worked solid innings, Bays picked up his third save in as many chances and is second in the league in that category. The Freedom are again above .500 with a 5-4 record, one game behind the Washington Wild Things for first, tied with the Chillicothe Paints for second.

The victory Friday night for the Freedom was the second in a row, following their 5-3 victory on Thursday. Joel Posey threw 8 strong innings, allowing five hits and two runs, striking out ten and walking five in picking up his second win in as many decisions. Lenny Bays picked up his second save, despite allowing a 9th inning solo home run to Otter Left Fielder Terrence McClain. Trevor Hall and Mike Galloway provided all of the offense necessary. Hall's 5th inning three-run home run proved to be the difference, it followed Galloway's RBI single to tie the game at 2. Joel Sanchez scored twice for Florence. The Otters opened the series on Wednesday night with a 9-0 shutout win behind Robby Read and Brian Kroll, who held the Freedom to five hits. Jason Sena was not equal to his first outing, surrendering 11 hits and 6 runs (5 earned) over 4 2/3 innings in picking up his first loss of the season.

The Freedom will begin the final leg of their 9 game home stand this evening against the Ohio Valley Redcoats. The Redcoats, who last year were the Springfield Ozark Ducks, are the Frontier League version of the Montreal Expos. The Redcoats play most of their games on the road as well as 15 in Lafayette, Indiana and 6 in Marietta, Ohio while waiting for final arrangements to be made. Ohio Valley is 4-5 on the season, two games out of first and one game behind the second place Freedom. The Redcoats just completed a home series in Lorian, Ohio in which they took two of three from the Richmond Roosters. In the upcoming series, Florence will start Mark Harris (1-0 1.69) against Daniel Baysinger (0-1 11.25) for the Redcoats. Florence is also scheduled to start Mike Dennison and Jason Sena in the series to counter Redcoat starters Ryan Childs and Eric Holt. Tonight's game will start at 7:05 at Champion Windows Field, Sunday at 6:05 and Monday at 7:05. All Freedom games can be heard choicefmradio.com and on the radio at WRHX 107.9 FM in Richwood, Kentucky and WZFR 97.7 in Cincinnati.

Chris Meiman is an historian and freelance writer based in Covington, Kentucky. He is currently working on a comprehensive history of hockey in Cincinnati and can be reached at chrismeiman@yahoo.com . Editors may use any or all of this article at their discretion, as long as the contact information appears with the article.

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