Three home runs and a strong pitching performance by Jordan Kraus led the Florence Freedom to a 10-3 opening day victory over the Gateway Grizzlies on Friday night at GCS Ballpark.
Andre Mercurio, Ozzy Braff and Andrew Godbold all homered for the Freedom (1-0), and Kraus (1-0) limited Gateway (0-1) to one run on three hits over seven innings of work.
Vince Molesky (0-1) took the loss for the Grizzlies, posting a high pitch count before exiting with two outs in the fourth inning.
Daniel Fraga doubled to lead off the game and scored on a single to center by Jose Brizuela. Florence added two runs in the top of the fourth on a throwing error and a Fraga RBI-groundout, but in the bottom half, the Grizzlies cut the Freedom lead to 3-1 when Craig Massoni scored on a RBI-groundout by Zach Lavy.
In the top of the eighth, Braff’s two-run homer and Godbold’s solo shot were both to the opposite field, giving the Freedom a 7-1 lead. But Gateway threatened in the bottom half, loading the bases against reliever Patrick McGrath. The left-hander recorded a strikeout before giving way to Pete Levitt, who allowed a RBI-infield single to Blake Brown and a run-scoring groundout before escaping the inning with a four-run lead.
After Braff and Garrett Vail helped extend the Florence lead via run-scoring doubles in the top of the ninth, right-hander Jalen Miller entered to pitch the bottom half, but allowed two walks and a wild pitch prior to striking out the next two batters. A base-on-balls to Massoni loaded the bases, but Collins Cuthrell robbed Brown of a grand slam at the right field wall to end the game.
The Freedom regular season home opener is 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.
Florence Freedom