Florence fell to the Rockford Aviators by a score of 5-2 Wednesday night.
Rockford took control in the seventh and eighth innings, scoring three runs against the Florence bullpen to outlast the Freedom on Local Heroes Night presented by Dr. Charles Kenner of Kenner Dentistry at UC Health Stadium.
With the Freedom trailing 2-0, Florence got on the board in the bottom half of the first. Daniel Fraga walked and stole second. Fraga moved to third on a Zac Mitchell infield single and came around to score on Collins Cuthrell sacrifice fly. Florence trailed 2-1 after one inning.
Florence trailed 2-1 heading to the bottom of the third inning. Cuthrell singled and came into score on a Sam Eberle RBI double that rattled off the wall in right-center field. After three frames, the game was even at two.
Florence starter Tony Vocca went four innings and allowed two runs to cross, both in the first inning. Vocca did not factor in the decision.
Zach Wendorf (0-1) picked up the loss out of the pen for the Freedom, tossing a scoreless fifth and sixth innings, but allowed two runs to cross in the seventh. Pete Levitt came on in relief of Wendorf to retire three batters in the seventh, but did allow the two runners he inherited to score on a Justin Fox two-RBI single.
Austin Delmotte pitched the final two innings, allowing a solo home run while fanning three.
The Freedom have a day/night doubleheader scheduled against the Aviators on Thursday. First pitch of game one is set for 11:05 a.m. and first pitch of game two is at 6:35 p.m.
Fans who can’t make the games can listen live to all 96 Freedom games on http://mixlr.com/florencefreedom/.
From Freedom Communications