The Florence Y’alls put up enough runs to win a number of games.
But in order to avoid digging itself into a big hole early in the season, the Y’alls know the pitching must improve. In the season opener for both teams, the Gateway (Illinois) Grizzlies pounded Florence pitching with 17 hits, pulling away for a 13-7 win.
Gateway especially hurt Florence with two out scoring, plating 10 runs in those situations. That included the seventh inning when first baseman Clint Freeman belted a three-run home run to put the Grizzlies up 11-7. They added two more with two out in the top of the eighth to make the final score.
“There were a couple big innings where we made some pitches we didn’t need to make,” said Chad Rhoades, Y’alls Manager. “I thought a couple were ego pitches. Some were close pitches and then we followed it up with frustration. It was elevated in the zone and got hurt. But it’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.”
Six different Grizzlies had multi-hit games. The two hitters at the top of the lineup especially did a lot of damage. Leadoff hitter and second baseman Eric Holt went 4-for-6 with a double, three runs batted in and scored three runs with center fielder Eric Rivera going 3-for-5 with a double and scored twice.
Left fielder Andrew Pinner, designated hitter Peter Zimmermann, catcher Alex Hernandez and shortstop Abdiel Diaz had two hits each. Diaz and Hernandez both doubled and drove in two.
Florence used five pitchers and Gateway used six. Michael Kirian took the loss for Florence and Nate Garkow earned the win for Gateway.
The two starters in Edgar Martinez for Florence and Lukas Veinbergs for Gateway pitched into the fourth inning. Martinez retired the side in the top of the third. The only Florence pitcher to not allow a run was Carter Poiry retiring the side in the top of the ninth with one strikeout in his Frontier League debut.
“We’re going to pitch better than we did (Thursday). Just know the staff is ready and one bad day doesn’t make it everything,” Poiry said. “I had a couple bad outings in spring ball. But I’ve been working every day knowing I had to get my stuff better. One great appearance doesn’t make a great year so I know I have to do it next time.”
Florence collected seven hits. Ray Zuberer went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run to put Florence up 4-1 in the bottom of the second and first baseman Craig Massey went 2-for-4 with an RBI and one run scored. Right fielder Taylor Olmstead doubled before coming out with an injury and outfielder Marcos Castillo scored twice.
Florence tagged Veinbergs for six earned runs. But the Gateway bullen held Florence to one run over the final four innings and retired the last 11 batters of the game.
Holt put Gateway up 1-0 with two out in the top of the first when Penner singled him home. But Florence responded with two in the bottom of the frame. Massey singled in center fielder Cole Brannen before designated hitter Logan Mathieu hit a sacrifice fly to left to score Massey.
But the Grizzlies came back to go up 5-4 in the top of the fourth. Diaz doubled in two then scored when Holt doubled him home before scoring on a wild pitch.
The Y’alls took their final lead in the bottom of the fourth at 6-5. Castillo singled and Zuberer doubled him in on a hit-and-run. Brannen then singled in Zuberer.
“It was just seeing the ball well and did what I could to put the bat on the ball,” Zuberer said. “That’s really all there is to it – just try to grind out an at bat, get my pitch and take a pretty good swing on it. For me, it all starts in the on-deck circle getting the timing down with the fastball and then really we’ve seen many types of pitchers growing up.”
The Y’alls finished the game with six stolen bases. Fuentes led the way with two.
“The way we started is the way we’re going to play,” Rhoades said. “I thought we ran the bases well. We were crisp. We got some big hits early.”
But Gateway took the lead for good at 7-6 with two in the top of the fifth. Hernandez doubled in Penner and Zimmermann. The Grizzlies then added one in the top of the sixth when Rivera singled, stole second and scored when third baseman DJ Stewart singled.
The teams play the second of a three-game series Friday back at Thomas More Stadium at 7:03 p.m.
