In search of a series victory, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, could not capitalize on an excellent pitching performance and fell to the Traverse City Beach Bums, 2-1, on Thursday at Wuerfel Park.
Tony Vocca (5-3) pitched a season-high seven innings for the Freedom (32-16), holding the Beach Bums (20-27) to just two runs on three hits, but received just one run of support in the contest.
Kendall Patrick was hit by a pitch leading off the bottom of the fifth for Traverse City, and took second base on a wild pitch. Zach Files grounded out to first, allowing Patrick to advance to third, and Arby Fields followed with a walk.
After Fields stole second, Josh Hauser lifted a pop-up to shallow left field. Shortstop Austin Wobrock made the catch, but both runners tagged as the ball carried Wobrock away from the infield, breaking the scoreless tie. A wild pitch in the following at-bat allowed Fields to score from third, giving the Beach Bums a 2-0 lead.
Jordan Brower led off the seventh with a double off Kramer Champlin (5-3), and took third on a Collins Cuthrell single. Garrett Vail followed with a ground-ball RBI-single to left field, knocking Champlin from the game. With Devin Over on the mound in relief, Wobrock bunted, but the Beach Bums recorded the force out on Cuthrell at third on the play.
After a pop-out, Taylor Oldham was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Jose Brizuela struck out swinging, leaving three runners stranded.
Florence also loaded the bases in the eighth on a walk and two singles, but Enrique Oquendo took over on the mound and got Cuthrell to pop-out before coaxing Ryan Rinsky into an inning-ending double-play grounder. The Freedom left a total of ten runners stranded in the game, and went just 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. Oquendo would go on to pitch a perfect ninth inning, handing Florence its second consecutive loss.
The Freedom next travel to Avon, Ohio for a three-game series against the Lake Erie Crushers. A yet-to-be-announced starter for Florence will face Lake Erie right-hander Juan Caballero (2-1) on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Sprenger Stadium.
The Florence Freedom are members of the independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at FlorenceFreedom.com, or by phone at 859-594-4487.
Florence Freedom