Late Offense Powers Freedom to Series-Opening Win
Published on July 24, 2018 under Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE, Ky - It took until the fifth inning to score, but the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, struck for five runs against the bullpen of the Normal Cornbelters en route to a, 6-3, win in the series opener on Tuesday night at UC Health Stadium.
The starting pitching was lights out at the start, as Freedom (31-29) starter Cody Gray (4-2) and Normal (28-30) hurler Nick Bozman both danced away from early jams to preserve a scoreless game through three frames. However, in the top of the fourth, one mistake pitch from Gray was taken out to deep right-center by former Freedom slugger, Andrew Goldbold. The solo-shot put the visitors on top, 1-0. Normal was able to tack on one more run of insurance in the fifth, thanks to an RBI-single from Michael Baca.
Florence answered in the bottom half of the frame, manufacturing one run to cut the lead in half, 2-1. Caleb Lopes was hit by a pitch from Bozman, putting the lead-off runner aboard. Skyler Ewing walked to put Lopes in scoring position before Lopes found his way on third after a fly-out from Jordan Brower. Keivan Berges plated Florence's first run on a sacrifice-fly.
Bozman was removed in the sixth in favor of Kuehl McEachern (0-3). The reliever-turned-starter allowed one run on three hits over his five innings, and walked four batters while striking out two.
The Freedom went right after McEachern in the sixth, as Jacob Wark and Jimmy Heck singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Austin Wobrock then laid down a safety squeeze, scoring Wark as the game stalemated at two. With Heck at second, Harrison White launched a two-run shot to right-center, giving the Freedom a, 4-2, lead on his first round-tripper of the season.
With two outs in the seventh, Gray was relieved with a runner on second base. Patrick McGrath entered and struck-out the only man he faced to close the book on another stellar start for Gray. He held Normal to two runs on seven hits over 6.2 innings, and struck out six batters while only walking one.
Florence continued to build on their lead in the seventh, adding two more runs on Ricky Ramirez Jr.'s seventh home run of 2018, making the score 6-2 in favor of the home team.
Freedom manager, Dennis Pelfrey, called on setup man Jake Haberer for the eighth with a four-run lead. A double from Justin Fletcher to start the inning put a runner in scoring position for Santiago Chirino, who singled back up the middle to make it a three-run game.
In the top of the ninth, Johnathon Tripp went right after the Cornbelters to rebound from his first blown save this year. After whiffing the first two men he faced, Tripp induced Michael Baca into a ground-out to short to seal his seventh save of the season, and slam the door on a, 6-3, Freedom victory.
Florence and Normal will battle in the middle game of the series on Wednesday, as Florence looks to win their second straight series and the sixth out of their last seven. Reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Week, Christian DeLeon will get the start for the Freedom, and the Cornbelters will counter with righty Jacinto Garcia. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 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.
Frontier League Stories from July 24, 2018
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- Late Offense Powers Freedom to Series-Opening Win - Florence Y'alls
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- Wild Things Add LHP Kellen Croce - Washington Wild Things
- ThunderBolts Drop Opener to Schaumburg - Windy City ThunderBolts
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