The Florence Freedom came back from a pair of deficits Sunday, but dropped the series finale against Gateway 4-3 in 10 innings.
The Freedom bullpen was rock solid, not allowing a hit in four innings leading up to the 10th, but the Grizzlies benefited from a walk and two hits in extras and won the game on an RBI single from Tyler Tewell.
Patrick McGrath worked around a couple of jams in the first two innings, but the hits caught up with him in the third. After a great relay from Josh Henderson to Travis Weaver to Garrett Vail cut down a run at the plate earlier in the inning, Craig Massoni scored on a single by Brandon Thomas. In the fourth, Gateway added one more on a Blake Brown home run.
The Freedom answered with a pair in the fifth. Collins Cuthrell led off the inning by launching a solo shot to left field, cutting the lead in half. Henderson singled later in the inning and scored on a two-out base hit from Weaver.
The Grizzlies pulled ahead again in the sixth. McGrath allowed three singles to lead off the inning, loading the bases with nobody out. The Florence coaching staff called upon Pete Levitt to escape the jam. One run came into score on a 6-3 double play before Levitt escaped the inning on a ground out. Daniel Fraga made a nice play, ranging to his right and firing across his body to beat Gateway’s speedy leadoff man Cody Livesay.
Fraga then manufactured the tying run for Florence in the eighth. He walked, moved to second on a single from Taylor Oldham, and stole third to put himself 90 feet away. Even with the infield in, he darted home on a ground out to second base, knotting the score at three.
The Florence bullpen allowed only one base runner in its first four innings. Levitt, TJ Bozeman, Matt Pobereyko, and Tony Vocca combined to toss those four innings in relief of McGrath (5 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K).
Florence started a two-out rally in the ninth, but could not plate a run. Henderson walked and Garrett Vail added a single, extending his hitting streak to six games. Weaver worked a full count, but struck out on an outside fastball to end the inning.
Tewell delivered the key hit for Gateway in the 10th, sending the Grizzlies to a series win.
Offensively, the Freedom got multi-hit performances from Oldham (3-for-5) and Seigel (2-for-5). Cuthrell added a home run, while Henderson reached twice and scored one run. In total, the Freedom left just six on base, but five of them were in scoring position.
Florence will take a couple of days off before opening up a three-game set with the Evansville Otters on Wednesday. First pitch of game one of the doubleheader will be at 5:35 p.m. with Zach Isler (2-3, 5.14 ERA) on the hill for Florence against Hunter Ackerman (2-2, 4.02 ERA). Game two will feature Davis Adkins’ (0-0, 1.80 ERA) first start as he faces off against Tyler Vail (1-1, 3.82 ERA).
From Freedom Communications