The Florence Y’alls needed a good series following the All-Star break and received it on the road taking two of three at the New York Boulders.
Florence (24-35) is tied for seventh with the Windy City ThunderBolts in the Frontier League West Division. The Y’alls moved to 6-11 against Frontier League East Division opponents.
“We could have easily let that one (Saturday) get away from us,” said Brian White, Florence manager. “We found the way to get that one and had the energy and momentum follow it into (Sunday).”
The Boulders (31-29), tied for fourth in the Frontier League East Division, pulled away Friday to win 7-4. New York scored four times in the bottom of the seventh to earn the win outhitting Florence, 12-8. Shortstop Alberti Chavez led Florence at the plate going 3 for 5 with a run batted in and a run scored, while second baseman Ethan Stern had a double.
Darwin Ramos (1-1) took the loss for the Y’alls in relief. Five Florence pitchers combined to strike out seven.
Florence came back and won the Saturday game, 10-9 in extra innings. Third baseman Craig Massey singled in Chavez in the top of the 11th to win the game.
Florence trailed 2-1 entering the top of the seventh. But the Y’alls scored three times to go up 4-2 before the Boulders tied it up 4-4 in the bottom of the frame. Florence scored five times in the top of the 10th before New York rallied again.
The Y’alls came back and dominated the Boulders 14-6 on Sunday outhitting the hosts, 19-8. Eight of the Florence starters collected at least two hits and all nine reached base. Brocato had four hits with three doubles and Flete homered for the second straight game. Chavez, Massey and Flete batted in three each.
“We set the tone early. They got two quick outs against us in the first then we had a two-out rally,” White said. “We kept their defense and pitcher out there long on a hot day. We made him work a bit and he fell behind a few counts. It helped us see the ball better and we got some pitches we could drive.”
Edgar Martinez (3-4) pitched seven innings for the Y’alls. He struck out three, walked four and allowed six hits and six earned runs. Tommy Siemer pitched the last two innings striking out one.
“I approach it like I know what my role is,” Siemer said. “I know that we want to save as many arms as possible so I need to go in there and do my job. If I don’t do my job then we need to use more arms. On a day like (Sunday), it’s easy to throw someone like me who can go multiple innings and save the guys who can only go one or two innings every other day, every couple days or whatever. So I went in there and tried to fill it up, strike people out and just get guys out.”
Florence returns home for a series against the Empire State Greys (3-57). The first game is Tuesday at 6:32 p.m.
