Florence (47-45) fell to the Windy City ThunderBolts (40-52) by a score of 9-2 on Wednesday and with the loss the Freedom is once again tied with the Rockford Aviators for the final spot in the Frontier League playoffs.
Florence would be in if the season ended today as they hold the tiebreaker. Four games remain in the regular season.
Windy City scored a run in every inning on Wednesday except for the fourth and the seventh.
It was a rough outing for Coleman Stephens (4-5) as he gave up six runs on eight hits in five innings.
Max White’s two-out RBI double in the first put Windy City up 1-0. Jacob Tanis added a RBI double in the second and another run scored on a double play in the third.
Down 3-0, Florence was still within striking distance until the ThunderBolts scored three in the fifth. Coco Johnson homered, as did Austin Gallagher. Gallagher’s shot was a two-run blast to out Windy City up 6-0.
An Alex Chittenden solo homer in the sixth made it 7-0.
Florence finally got on the board against Travis Tingle (7-7) in the bottom of the sixth. Daniel Fraga doubled to start the frame. One out later Austin Newell drew a walk. Then Frazier Hall delivered a two-RBI triple to cut the Windy City lead to 7-2.
That’s as close as the Freedom would get as Windy City scored a run in the eighth and the ninth to provide their final margin of victory.
The Freedom will look to win the rubber match of the three-game series Thursday night as they send ace Jeremy Gooding (7-4) to the hill. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. It’s the final regular season home game of the year and the Freedom are roasting Pete Rose beforehand.
From Freedom Communications