Offense Still Quiet In Loss To Crushers
September 2, 2009 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
FLORENCE, KY - A night after Florence managed only one run against Paul Fagan, four Crusher pitchers combined to hold the Freedom to only one run in a 3-1 loss to Lake Erie.
The win was the Crushers sixth straight over the Freedom as Lake Erie continues to battle for one of the four unclenched playoff spots in the Frontier League hunt.
Lake Erie took advantage of the Freedom's lone error in the second inning to grab the game's first lead at 1-0. With two outs, Jodem Rivera grounded a ball towards Tim Grogan at short which he bobbled allowing Arden McWilliams to score from third.
Tyler Johnson hit was proved to be the game winning home run in the third to make it 3-0. With a man aboard, Johnson hit his fourth homer of the season on Allan Donato's final pitch of the start.
Donato was pulled after the Johnson homer, going 2 1/3 innings. The right-hander would suffer the loss to drop to 0-2. Florence's bullpen came in and dominated in place of Donato, not allowing a hit over the final 6 2/3 innings. Jaeson Hudnall struck out six over 4 2/3 innings out of the pen.
Florence just could not muster any offense with its only run came in the sixth inning. Matt Stiffler singled leading off, and then scored on Grogan's RBI double off Lake Erie starter Alberto Rolon. Rolon (4-1) tossed six innings, allowing only the one run on five Freedom hits.
The best chance for a Freedom rally came against the Crusher's bullpen in the eighth. The first two batters reached off Cristobal Mata on a single and catcher's interference. Ronnie Morales came in and got the first out on a Grogan sacrifice bunt, but then loaded the bases after hitting Ryan Basham. With the tying run at second and the go-a-head run at first, Bily Mottram and Justin Pickett both struck out to end the threat.
J.J. Pacella struck out Pickett to end the eighth and then worked a scoreless ninth to earn his eighth save of the season.
Florence (47-45) will wrap up its 2009 home schedule on Thursday night against the Crushers. Game time is set for 7:05 p.m. on this Kentucky Powerball Thirsty Thursday. The game will feature $1 Miller Lite and Pepsi products. For tickets, call the Freedom at (859) 594-HITS or visit FlorenceFreedom.com.
Frontier League Stories from September 2, 2009
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- Crushers Pitching Shuts Down Freedom - Lake Erie Crushers
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