The Florence Y’alls were able to salvage a victory in their lone trip to Avon this season against the Lake Erie Crushers.
The Y’alls (4-5) put together two solid innings late Sunday to leave with a 6-1 victory and avoid a sweep. The game’s seven runs came in the sixth inning and later.
“(Sunday) was great. The guys did what they needed to do,” said Chad Rhoades, Florence Manager. “The pitching was really good. We didn’t lay down. The energy was a little flat at times I thought. We threatened every inning. We knocked them in when it counted.”
Florence stands in seventh place in the Frontier League West standings, three games out of first place. The Evansville Otters lead the division at 7-2 with the Gateway Grizzlies, Washington Wild Things and Lake Erie tied for second at 6-3.
Tied 1-1 in the top of the eighth, Florence pinch-hitter Brian Fuentes singled in first baseman Brennan Price and right fielder Ray Zuberer to put the Y’alls up 3-1. Catcher Cooper Edwards then singled in third baseman Andres Rios to make it 4-1. The Y’alls added two more in the top of the ninth.
“We have a great trainer who got me ready for the game,” Fuentes said. “(Manager) Rhoades and I spoke and he said, ‘If the game is on the line, be ready.’ My mentality was be calm and put the ball in play. That’s what I did and it worked out.”
Florence collected eight hits in the contest. Price had a double for the Y’alls.
Nathan Florence had another quality start for the Y’alls striking out five, walking four and allowing just two hits in five innings. Joe Dougherty (1-0) pitched the sixth and seventh, striking out one, walking none and allowing no hits. Sean Hughes and Cameron Pferrer pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to finish the game.
Florence opened the series losing 6-2 Friday. The Y’alls scored their two runs in their first at-bat. But Lake Erie scored two runs in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to pull away.
The Y’alls tallied just three hits in Friday’s battle and struck out 11 times. Left fielder Marcos Castillo had a double for Florence’s lone extra-base hit.
Jake McMahill started for Florence and pitched into the sixth inning striking out four and walking four. Michael Kirian (1-2) finished the sixth and pitched the seventh, striking out one and walking none. Hughes then pitched a scoreless eighth.
Florence then lost to Lake Erie, 6-3 on Saturday. The Crushers scored five times in the first inning and took it from there.
The Y’alls once again struggled at the plate with just four hits. Fuentes tripled and scored twice with Andres Rios batting in two.
Bobby Brabrand (0-1) took the loss, striking out three, walking five and allowing six hits, three earned runs and one home run. Brandon Mason pitched two innings, striking out two, walking three and allowing two hits. Kent Klyman pitched the seventh and eighth, striking out one, walking one and allowed one walk, two hits and one earned run. The Y’alls made one error behind them that led to two unearned Crusher runs.
Florence continues the road trip heading east to face defending division champion Washington (Pennsylvania) on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.