The River City Rascals totaled 18 runs, 14 hits, and drew 11 walks in an 18-5 victory over the Florence Freedom Tuesday.
The Rascals (13-8) jumped on the Freedom (7-14) from the get-go, scoring 13 runs in the first three innings. Florence starter Brandon Bargas walked the first three batters he faced and two came around the score in the inning. In the second, River City loaded the bases with nobody out. Bargas walked in a run before Josh Ludy hit a two-RBI single to put the Rascals ahead 5-0. Bargas finished just two innings, allowing three hits, five walks, and six runs.
Trailing 6-0 after two frames, Taylor Oldham put the first Freedom run on the scoreboard by taking Zeb Sneed deep to right-center. It was Oldham’s fourth home run of the year.
The floodgates opened in the third inning as the Freedom called TJ Bozeman out of the bullpen. The Freedom reliever allowed all eight men he faced to reach base (four hits, four walks) and seven of them came around to score in the inning, putting the Rascals ahead 13-1.
The Freedom got their first look at newly signed Brandon Maddern and he delivered three solid innings before struggling in the sixth. He allowed the first six men to reach and five of them came around to score, giving River City an 18-1 lead. He handed the ball off to Pete Levitt, who combined with Tony Vocca and Matt Pobereyko to hold the Rascals scoreless the rest of the way.
The Florence offense woke up late. Isaac Wenrich and Josh Henderson both doubled down the left-field line in the seventh, with Henderson plating Wenrich. Henderson scored later on an RBI single by Oldham.
Wenrich added the final two runs for the Freedom as well, launching a towering home run over the 45-foot-high right-field wall and making the score 18-5.
Wenrich (3-for-4) and Oldham (2-for-4) both finished with two RBIs and a home run for Florence. Alexi Colon and Johnny Morales both scored four runs for River City, while Jason Merjano drove in three. In total, the Rascals batted around twice, including doing so in the third without recording an out. Zeb Sneed took advantage of the run support to earn the win in another quality start (6 2/3 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 6 K).
The Freedom’s bounce-back opportunity will come in Wednesday’s game two. Florence will send Patrick McGrath to the hill to face Jason Ziegler with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
From Freedom Communications