FL River City Rascals

Rascals Break out Late, Best Florence

Published on August 7, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
River City Rascals News Release


The Rascals made it two in a row Wednesday night, besting the Freedom in the opener of a three-game series at TR Hughes Ballpark. River City broke the game open late and ultimately prevailed by a final of 8-3.

Jose Samayoa took to the mound for the Raskies. The young righthander from Lee University was sharp early, setting down the first three men that he faced. In his second inning, he would do the same thing, though this time a touch more painfully. Sam Eberle saw to that. He sent a hotshot linedrive up the middle to start the second frame that hit Samayoa around the hip area. Though Samayoa managed to pick the ball up and retire Eberle at first, he needed to be checked out by the training staff after the play.

Meanwhile, his offense had built him a lead. In the bottom of the first, Eric Williams reached on an error by the Florence shortstop Chance Ross. He was moved to second by Johnny Morales on a swinging bunt and then stole third. Saxon Butler drove him in with a single to right, and the Rascals had a 1-0 lead.

Samayoa returned for the third but struggled. He walked the first two men that he faced in the inning, but was ultimately able to make pitches when he needed them, getting the Freedom to strand the bases loaded and keep the Rascal lead intact. With aftershocks from the Eberle line drive possibly lingering, he would be kept on the bench and not return for the fourth.

His replacement was Chandler Jagodzinski. Jagodzinski struggled from the outset, allowing no runs but three hits in the fourth and then giving up a leadoff dinger to DH Ryan Solberg to begin the top of the fifth. The Freedom would tag him for another run in the inning, this one courtesy of an RBI double by Eberle, before Jagodzinski exited.

The Rascals got the tally back though in the bottom of the inning, with Hector Crespo reaching with a walk to begin the inning. He moved to third on a nice piece of hitting-and-running with Steve Carrillo and then came in on a double play ball off the bat of Brian Hansen. Crespo would finish the night with two runs scored, having reached base in all four of his plate appearances.

The game would remain tied at 2-2 until the bottom of the eighth, with Paul Hvozdovic, Trey Lambert, Patrick Crider, and Nick Kennedy combining to keep the Freedom down. The Raskie bats got going in their half of the eighth. Eric Williams and Johnny Morales reached on a walk and HBP respectively. Saxon Butler then put down a nice sacrifice bunt to move them over. The throw to third by Freedom reliever Pete Levitt to try to get Williams went into left field, and in the subsequent chaos, Williams was able to score with room to spare to make it 3-2.

From there, the Rascals made it look easy. Joe Staley stroked a 2-RBI double to drive Levitt from the contest, and Steve Carrillo got to his replacement Jorge Marban with a 3-RBI double that really broke the game open. Williams, Morales, Butler, Jon Myers, Staley, and Crespo all scored in the inning, and when the dust settled, the game was all but over at 8-2.

Ethan Bader closed it out for River City, surrendering one run in the ninth. But that run amounted to nothing but pride for Florence, who fell 8-3. With the win, the Rascals moved to sixteen games over .500 on the year. They also improved to 29-5 when they score first in a game and 24-12 at home. Kennedy, who pitched a scoreless eighth, got the win, while Levitt got the loss. The two teams meet again tomorrow. First pitch at TR Hughes will be at 7:05. Purchase Tickets by visiting www.rivercityrascals.com or by calling (636)-240-BATS.

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Frontier League Stories from August 7, 2014


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