Jordan Kraus battled through early struggles and settled in to pitch a complete game as the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, defeated the Washington Wild Things, 9-3, on Saturday to claim the weekend series at UC Health Stadium.
Kraus (5-1) allowed a number of baserunners in the early innings, yielding two walks and four hits through his first three innings of work. The right-hander, however, would rebound to strike out a total of seven batters, including striking out the side in order in the sixth. The complete-game effort was the first nine-inning complete game by a Freedom (18-8) pitcher this season.
With the score tied at 3-3 entering the bottom of the sixth inning, Trevor Belicek (1-3) entered in relief for Washington (13-13) and allowed a hit-by-pitch and a walk to the first two batters. After a popout, a walk to Austin Wobrock loaded the bases, and right-hander Jordan Schwartz took over on the mound. Schwartz balked to plate the go-ahead run from third, and Mike Morris walked to reload the bases. A fielder’s choice grounder by Daniel Fraga made the score 5-3 before pinch-hitter Andrew Godbold was hit by a pitch to once again load the bases. Jose Brizuela followed by hitting his team-leading fifth home run of the season, a grand slam, over the right field wall to stretch the Freedom lead to six runs
The Freedom had taken a 1-0 lead against Wild Things starter Aaron Burns on a Garrett Vail RBI-double in the second inning. Washington would respond, however, by taking a 2-1 lead on a Bralin Jackson RBI-single and a run-scoring groundout by Hector Roa in the top of the third.
Florence would retake the lead with a two-run bottom of the third, only to have the Wild Things tie the score at 3-3 in the fourth, as Rashad Brown’s RBI-double plated Kyle Pollock.
The Freedom will play for the series sweep Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at UC Health Stadium. A yet-to-be-determined starter will pitch for the Freedom against Washington right-hander Chase Cunningham.
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.Freedom