A high-scoring, back-and-forth battle ended in the home team’s favor Sunday, as the Florence Freedom defeated the Lake Erie Crushers, 11-10, in the team’s first exhibition game of the season at UC Health Stadium.
Rookie Ryan Rinsky came through with the decisive solo home run for the Freedom off Crushers right-hander Roman Gomez to lead off the bottom of the ninth. The blast came after Florence could not hold a 10-6 lead in the top of the ninth, as reliever Pete Levitt surrendered a RBI-single to Jason Scholl and a game-tying three-run homer to Robb Paller.
Rinsky was one of four Freedom players to homer in the contest, as Andrew Godbold, Ozzy Braff and Jose Brizuela also went deep off Lake Erie pitching.
Marty Anderson emerged as the pitching hero in long relief for the Freedom, striking out the first four batters he faced en route to a stellar 10-strikeout, two-hit performance in five innings out of the bullpen.
Florence starter Jordan Kraus labored through three innings, yielding six runs on eight hits while walking four. After a three-run home run by Connor Oliver in the first inning, a pair of errors compounded Kraus’ troubles, as the Crushers tallied four runs before Lake Erie starter Steve Hagen toed the rubber.
Trailing 6-1 after two and a half innings, the Freedom overcame their largest deficit of the game by scoring in each of the following four frames. Braff homered to lead off the bottom of the third, Daniel Fraga hit a RBI-double and Godbold added a run-scoring single in the fourth, and Florence rallied for four runs in the fifth to take an 8-6 lead before adding two more in the sixth on a Jose Brizuela solo home run and a Collins Cuthrell RBI-double.
Beyond the ninth inning, the teams played two additional innings in a scrimmage-like setting, making up for time lost to weather-influenced cancellations of the Freedom’s first three scheduled exhibitions.
The Freedom home opener of the regular season is on Wednesday, May 17. Group tickets and season ticket plans are currently on sale for the 2017 campaign. Fans can guarantee seating for premium promotional dates by calling the Freedom at 859-594-4487.