The Florence Y’alls ventured to Washington (Pennsylvania) to start the six-game road trip hoping to make up some ground in the Frontier League West Division against the division-leading Wild Things.
Florence (17-23) came within a run twice, but could not pull off a win losing all three games to Washington (28-14). The sweep drops Florence to seventh in the division.
“We’ve obviously been playing good baseball these last couple weeks,” said Brian White, Florence Manager. “It’s not like we’ve played terrible these last couple games. A few plays didn’t go our way and they ended up costing us. We talk about them, learn from them and try to get better at those things. The good thing is we battled from the first inning through the ninth inning all three games. That says a lot about the guys that we have.”
Florence had won five series in a row entering this series. This marked the third time this year the Y’alls have been swept on the road in a three-game series. Washington has won five of the six games against Florence this year.
Washington won the first game Tuesday, 2-1. Florence pitcher Yasel Santana (2-3) took the tough loss in the pitchers duel. Santana pitched seven innings striking out seven, walked one and allowed five hits and two earned runs.
The defense kept Florence in the game making just one error. The Y’alls made five in the series.
“We work hard every single day to do what we do on defense,” said Alberti Chavez, Florence shortstop. “That’s the reason why I think we are one of the best defenses in the league. We prepare a lot before games. We don’t want to make them. But errors are part of the game.”
The Y’alls had just two hits in the loss. One came when second baseman Harrison DiNicola hit a solo home run in the top of the first.
Washington scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. First baseman Andrew Czech hit a solo home run.
Washington doubled up Florence, 12-6 on Wednesday. The Wild Things outhit the Y’alls, 16-7. Florence starter Jonaiker Villalobos (3-4) took the loss pitching five innings striking out two, walking two and allowing 10 hits and seven earned runs.
“Top to bottom, they’re a good roster,” White said of the Wild Things. “From the starting pitching to the bullpen, one through nine, they’ve put the pieces together. I like the way their roster is built. It’s similar to ours. They got the better end of us. Our guys didn’t give up.”
No none had more than one hit for Florence. But Bryant Flete, DiNicola, Brennan Price, Anthony Brocato and Ethan Stern had doubles for the Y’alls.
Florence trailed 7-0 after four innings. The Y’alls scored three in the top of the fourth then three in the top of the eighth to trim the margin to 7-6. But the Wild Things pulled away with five in the bottom of the eighth.
Florence outhit Washington, 10-7 in the third game. But the Wild Things scored three unearned runs off three Y’all errors.
DiNicola, Brocato, center fielder Axel Johnson and catcher Cooper Edwards had two hits each. Brocato and Johnson homered for Florence and Chavez doubled. Johnson hit a three- run home run for the Y’alls in the top of the eighth to make the final score.
Jake McMahill (1-1) took the loss for Florence pitching into the fifth inning. He struck out three, walked three and allowed six hits and four earned runs.
Florence takes on the Schaumberg (Illinois) Boomers (19-21) to start another series. Game time is 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
