Freedom Top Otters to Take Third Straight Series
June 21, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE, Ky - The Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, turned in a complete performance in the final game of their longest home-stand of the season, beating the Evansville Otters, 5-2, behind a great pitching performance from Christian DeLeon on Thursday night at UC Health Stadium.
Florence (18-18) wasted no time attacking Evansville (18-17) starter Randy Wynne (3-3). In the bottom of the first, Caleb Lopes roped a double off the top of the wall in right field for the Freedom's first hit and Skylar Ewing reached on an error to put runners on the corners. Andre Mercurio followed with a line-drive single up the middle to plate Lopes as the Freedom took an early one run lead. With Ewing at third after the single, Jordan Brower extended the Florence lead with a sacrifice fly, giving the Freedom a, 2-0, lead after one frame.
Christian DeLeon (2-2) faced the minimum through the first three innings, giving the Freedom a chance to expand their lead again in the home half of the third. Ewing started the rally with a lead-off single before Mercurio sent a hard ground-ball to first that ate up Travis Harrison and put runners at first and third. continued his hot start in a Freedom uniform by singling to start the third inning. Xavier Turner delivered a sacrifice fly to center next, stretching the Freedom lead to, 3-0. In the home half of the fourth, Austin Wobrock followed a Jacob Wark single with his first home run since 2016, a two-run blast that sailed in to the Freedom bullpen as the home team took a, 5-0, lead.
DeLeon carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning, but Evansville ended his bid with history on a Logan Taylor bloop single that fell into left-field. In the top of the seventh, Evansville thwarted the shut-out, getting a big-fly from Travis Harrison to cut their deficit to four.
DeLeon finished his night spanning eight innings, allowing the one earned run on just three hits with a pair of walks and three whiffs in a phenomenal effort that earned him his second straight win. Sam Martin entered for the ninth and after a Toby Thomas double, Jeff Gardner delivered an RBI-single to pull the Otters within three. Martin responded by striking out Harrison to give Florence their third consecutive series victory.
Florence will now embark on a nine-game road trip, taking on West Division foes River City, Southern Illinois, and Normal before returning home on July 3rd. The Otters will head back to the comfy confines of Bosse Field where the Southern Illinois Miners await a weekend series.
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 June 21, 2018
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