Chuck Weaver won his second decision of the year with a dominant performance on the mound and Florence’s offense was explosive in a 9-0 win over over the Frontier Greys Thursday night.
Weaver (2-0) carried a perfect game into the fifth inning and a no-hitter into the seventh inning. Weaver ultimately fired eight scoreless innings while allowing only one hit and fanning a career high 11 Greys batters to earn his second victory of the 2015 campaign.
Florence (5-1) plated five runs in the first inning off Greys starter Richard Bielski (0-1). Jake Luce walked and stole second to put himself in scoring position. Cody Bishop walked as well, to put runners on first and second. Steve Carrillo ripped a ground rule double to plate Luce and set up runners on second and third. Sean Mahley followed with a double to bring home Bishop and Carrillo.
Mahley came around to score on a Gaby Juarbe RBI single. Juarbe then stole second and scored on an Elvin Rodriguez single and a throwing error by Zach Tanner. When the dust settled it was 5-0 in favor of the Freedom.
Florence padded its lead in the third. Cody Bishop walked to lead off the frame and moved to second on a Sean Mahley walk. Gaby Juarbe singled Bishop home for Florence’s sixth run of the night. The Freedom held a 6-0 lead after three.
The Freedom tacked on three more runs in the sixth. Daniel Fraga started the two out rally with a single and moved to third on an Austin Newell single. Jake Luce then unloaded for a three run home run, his first of the season, to give the Freedom a 9-0 lead.
But the story of the game was Weaver, who threw 98 pitches, 70 of them for strikes in his outing. Tony Vocca tossed a scoreless ninth to finish the shut out.
The Freedom head to Evansville for a three game series with the Otters starting Friday night. Jake Stephens takes the hill in game one. First pitch is set for 7:35 p.m. eastern time. Fans can tune in at http://mixlr.com/florencefreedom/.
From Freedom Communications