Freedom Will Send Four to Mid-Summer Classic
July 2, 2018 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE, Ky - The Frontier League announced Tuesday that the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, will have four representatives for the 2018 Frontier League All-Star Game at CarShield Field on July 11, in O'Fallon, Missouri.
The Freedom will send experienced pitcher Steve Hagen and rookies Keivan Berges, Jacob Wark and Johnathon Tripp to the mid-summer classic.
Berges will be the lone starter for Florence in the annual contest. The outfielder out of Keiser University leads the club in games started (42), hits (46), home runs (5), runs batted in (25) and has the third best batting average on the roster at .301.
Now a two-time All-Star, Hagen has the second-most wins by a starting pitcher over the first half of the season with six, and his 2.44 ERA is fifth best in the Frontier League. The right-hander boasts a better than three to one strikeout-to-walk ratio with 45 whiffs and 13 free passes over his first nine starts of 2018.
Wark has gotten the attention of his peers despite joining the Freedom on June 2. The former baseball and football standout at the University of California-Berkeley hit .280 with 3 homers and 22 RBI at the time he received the vote. The three long-balls and twenty-one runs batted in are both second most on the Freedom roster.
Tripp earned his All-Star selection after settling into the closer role for Florence during the first half of the season. The 6'4 190 pound right-hander has posted an anemic 1.05 ERA over his first 16 appearances and sports a .170 opponent batting average against. In 17 innings pitched, Tripp has tallied 23 strikeouts to just 5 walks.
For the first time in 2018, the mid-summer classic will go with a Rookies versus Experienced format. The West Division coaching staff will handle the experienced players while the East Division staff over-sees the rookies. The coaches will be determined by the teams who sit atop the two divisions after all scores go final on Wednesday of this week.
Frontier League Stories from July 2, 2018
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- Four Boomers Chosen to Frontier League All-Star Game - Schaumburg Boomers
- Eight Otters Voted as Frontier League All-Stars - Evansville Otters
- Freedom Deal Zach Kirby to Normal - Florence Y'alls
- Six CornBelters Selected to All-Star Game - Normal CornBelters
- Freedom Will Send Four to Mid-Summer Classic - Florence Y'alls
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- Romeo Cortina Named 2018 All-Star - Southern Illinois Miners
- Five Rascals Named to All-Star Game - River City Rascals
- Five Wild Things Named 2018 Frontier League All Stars - Washington Wild Things
- Five Beach Bums Selected for 2018 All Star Game - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Landwehr Named League Pitcher of the Week - Normal CornBelters
- Freedom Belts Normal in Series Finale - Florence Y'alls
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