The Florence Freedom swept their first road series since 2013 with a dominating 12-3 win over the Schaumburg Boomers on Sunday afternoon.
The win pushes the Freedom to a game over .500 on the road at 11-10. The victory is the Freedom’s fourth in a row, matching their longest winning streak of the season.
Florence started the game playing small ball, and finished off the Boomers by playing long ball. All-Stars Sam Eberle (a grand slam) and Gaby Juarbe (a three-run shot) homered in the contest for Florence.
Jeremy Gooding (3-2) went six and two thirds innings for the win, scattering seven hits and allowing two runs while walking two and striking out four.
Florence got on the board in the first. Justin Harris started the game with a single. One out later Collins Cuthrell drew a walk. A wild pitch moved both runners up 90 feet and Andrew Godbold drove in Harris with a RBI ground-out. Cuthrell advanced to third on the play and scored on a wild pitch to put Florence up 2-0.
Eberle started the second inning with a double. He moved to third on a deep Juarbe fly-out and scored on a Mason Salazar sacrifice fly.
Up 3-0, Florence added another run in the third as Zac Mitchell doubled to start the frame. He advanced to third on a Cuthrell fly ball and scored on a Godbold sacrifice fly.
Schaumburg got a run back in the bottom of the third to cut the Freedom lead to 4-1 as Jordan Dean singled home Justin Vasquez.
But the Freedom kept on scoring as they pushed across another run in the fourth. Eberle got things going with a single. He swiped second and moved to third on a ground-out. Steve Carrillo doubled Eberle in to extend the lead to 5-1.
Small ball was fun but the Freedom decided to hit some dingers down the stretch. In the top of the fifth, Cuthrell walked to start the frame. Godbold singled and Kyle Carter got hit by a pitch. That’s when Eberle crushed a pitch over the left field fence for this sixth home run of the season, a grand slam to extend the Freedom lead to 9-1.
A Craig Massey RBI single in the sixth made the score 9-2 but the Freedom struck back in a big way in the seventh.
Godbold walked to lead-off the inning. One out later Eberle walked as well. Juarbe, who had hit the ball hard three times in the game with nothing to show for it, stepped to the dish. He proceeded to clobber a three-run homer over the fence in left-center. Juarbe’s third home run of the season extended the Freedom lead to 12-2.
Schaumburg added their final run in the eighth on another Massey single but Seth Harvey finished the Boomers off in the ninth to secure the victory.
The Freedom will have Monday-Thursday off for the All-Star Break. They return to action on Friday in Traverse City, MI against the Beach Bums. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
Fans can tune in at http://mixlr.com/florencefreedom/.
In Saturday’s game, Andrew Godbold homered to tie the game in the fifth, Daniel Fraga delivered the go-ahead single in the eighth, and the Freedom (23-27) pulled off their biggest comeback of 2015 in a 7-5 victory over Schaumburg.
The win clinches the Freedom’s fourth straight road series victory and gets them to the .500 mark (10-10) on the road this season.
Florence fell behind 5-0 after sitting through a rain delay of more than two hours before first pitch.
Willi Martin singled and advanced to second on a Fraga throwing error to start the second inning against Freedom starter Ryan Davis. Craig Massey singled him to third and Kyle Ruchim singled Martin home to put Schaumburg up 1-0. A double play plated Massey to extend the lead.
The Boomers added to their advantage in the third as Alexi Colon singled with two outs and nobody on. Mike Schulze drew a walk and Martin doubled home both runners to make it 4-0 in favor of the Boomers. Massey reached on an infield single and another Fraga throwing error allowed Martin to score on the play.
Down 5-0, the Freedom rallied against Schaumburg starter Peter Gehle in the fourth. Collins Cuthrell walked to start he frame and Andrew Godbold reached on a Gehle throwing error. With runners at first and second and nobody out, Kyle Carter singled home Cuthrell and Godbold advanced to third on the play. He scored later on a perfect bunt single from Justin Harris to cut the Schaumburg lead to 5-2.
In the top of the fifth the Freedom rallied again as Fraga got hit by a pitch. One out later Cuthrell drew a walk. That’s when Godbold went deep, really deep, with a three-run home run to dead centerfield, tying the game at five. It’s Godbold’s first home run of the season.
From Freedom Communications