After a deficit grew to six runs, the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, fought back in the middle innings but ultimately fell short in a 6-4 loss to the Joliet Slammers on Friday at Slammers Stadium.
Freedom (40-24) starter Jonny Reid (0-2) surrendered six runs on eight hits over just four innings of work. Melvin Rodriguez and Rock Shoulders hit RBI-singles in the first and second innings, respectively, and after a perfect third inning by Reid, the Slammers (30-32) sent nine men to the plate in the fourth, scoring four runs on four hits and a pair of walks, all with two outs.
Trailing 6-0, Florence got a leadoff single from Taylor Oldham in the top of the fifth inning. Three batters later, Collins Cuthrell hit a two-run homer to left field off Tyler House (2-3) in the starter’s final inning of work.
The Freedom trimmed the deficit to two runs in the sixth. A walk, a hit-by-pitch and a wild pitch by Joliet reliever Andrew Zellner set up a Daniel Fraga sacrifice fly to left field and an Oldham RBI-single, both coming against Joe Ortiz, who inherited both runners.
Sam Brunner provided three and two-thirds shutdown innings of relief for the Freedom, but Florence hitters did not put a runner on base in any of the final three innings. The team had also failed to capitalize on early run-scoring opportunities, leaving two men on base in each of the first three innings.
Ridge Hoopii-Haslam and David Gonzalez each collected three hits for the Slammers, while Oldham’s two hits led the Freedom.
The series continues Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. at Slammers Stadium. Tony Vocca (5-4) will start for the Freedom against Joliet’s Skylar Janisse (4-1).
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