In the middle-game of a weekend set, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, prevailed 5-2 over the Schaumburg Boomers on Saturday night at Boomers Stadium.
Improving to 21-4 in games the Freedom (30-13) score first, Florence jumped ahead in the top of the second when a pair of doubles off Connor Reed (2-3) by Ricky Ramirez Jr. and Jackson Pritchard gave the visitors a, 1-0, lead over Schaumburg (22-22).
The Boomers were quick to tie it in the bottom half, Matt Rose turned on a Mike Castellani (5-1) fastball for his fifth homer of the season.
Castellani would not allow another run to cross until the eighth.
Back-to-back singles from Taylor Bryant and Caleb Lopes, who finished the night 3-3 with a trio of one-baggers and a walk, setup a sacrifice bunt from Andre Mercurio to put a pair of runners in scoring position in the top of the fourth.
Ramirez Jr. pushed the Freedom ahead again, lacing a two-run single to right before advancing to third on a throwing error from Boomers right fielder Clint Hardy.
In front, 3-1, Florence added a pair of insurance runs in the fifth and seventh, respectively.Tyler Reichenborn helped the cause in the fifth when he reached on a second Schaumburg error that allowed Connor Crane to score after singling earlier in the frame.
Following his second single of the night in the seventh, Austin Wobrock crossed home-plate to make the score, 5-1, Freedom when Reichenborn delivered a line-drive single to center.
Reed would not come back out for the eighth, ending his night spanning seven frames and allowing five runs, four earned with no walks and three strikeouts in his third loss of the season.
Schaumburg pulled within three in the eighth, getting a lead-off triple from Jimmy Galusky before Connor Oliver delivered a productive out to score the run, grounding-out to second as the score became, 5-2.
For the second time in as many nights, the Freedom starter came back out for the ninth, Castellani recording a pair of outs before handing the ball to Karl Craigie after a walk put runners on first and second and brought the tying run to the plate.
Craigie walked Zach Taylor to load the bases, but induced Brock Carpenter into a fly-out to center, preserving the, 5-2, Freedom victory while collecting his second save of the season.
Castellani earned the win, going 8.2 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on six hits with one walk and 6 strikeouts in his sixth quality start of the season.
The Freedom will look to improve to 6-0 against the Boomers when they square off in the finale of this weekend set on Sunday evening. Florence sends right-hander, Daniel Williams (2-0, 3.98) to the bump opposite righty, Petyon Lobdell (0-3, 4.90) for Schaumburg with first pitch slated for 6:00 p.m. Boomers Stadium.
The Florence Freedom are members of the Independent Frontier League and play all homegames 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.