The Florence Y’alls (21-27) find themselves trying to dig out of a tunnel after the being swept on the road against the Frontier League West Division-leading Gateway Grizzlies (30-16).
Florence has dropped a season-high eight in a row, dropping to sixth place in the West Division.
“We all know what it is. As far as doing too much to get out of it, that’s just not what’s going to happen,” said Chad Rhoades, Florence Manager. “We’ve been out there every single day putting in the work. It’s how you respond and come through it. It’s not exactly where I wanted to be headed into the All-Star Break. I wanted to be around .500. But we feel real good about the second half.”
The rough series starting with Gateway was a convincing 15-1 Grizzlies win Monday, outhitting Florence, 16-3. The one bright spot was recent Northern Kentucky University graduate Nick Wimmers going 2-for-3 with one run scored in his professional debut playing catcher.
“I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity just to keep playing. I love the game and the game loved me back so it was great to get a chance to showcase my skills a bit and have fun while doing it,” Wimmers said. “I’m just here to do whatever they need me to do to help the team win. There are a lot of guys here with a lot of experience. We play a lot more games than we did in college so just being ready to play every single day, it’s the grind. You just show up every day ready to play your role and get after it.”
Then on Tuesday, Gateway never trailed in a 5-2 win. The Y’alls scored once in the top of the sixth to trim the lead to 3-1. But Gateway responded with two in the bottom of the inning to make the final score.
Jake McMahill (1-2) pitched into the sixth inning, taking the loss walking five and striking out two. Carter Poiry and Michael Kirian pitched scoreless in relief to keep the Y’alls in the game, striking out one each.
Both teams had six hits. Shortstop Jeremiah Burks went 2-for-4 to lead the Y’alls.
The 5-3 loss Wednesday turned out to be the toughest one to swallow. First baseman Harrison DiNicola doubled in third baseman Brian Fuentes before catcher Zade Richardson singled in DiNicola to put Florence up 2-0 in the top of the first inning. Then after Gateway tied the game 2-2 with a home run in the bottom of the second, Richardson hit a solo home run to give the Y’alls a 3-2 lead in the top of the sixth.
Florence held it until the bottom of the eighth when Gateway scored three runs. The Grizzlies took the lead at 4-3 on a sacrifice fly then added another on a Florence error on the same play.
“I thought the right attitude came around. I think we saw fruition in a really good baseball game,” Rhoades said. “I thought we played really well together and I thought we had really good energy on the field, in the dugout and everywhere before in our pre-game work.”
Bobby Brabrand gave Florence a good chance pitching into the seventh inning, striking out five and walking three. Kent Klyman (0-1) pitched one inning in relief to take the loss before Brian McKenna finished the game.
“We’ve hit a bit of a rough patch here. But we have all the confidence in our guys to go out there and win every night,” Brabrand said. “Some nights it shows. Some nights it doesn’t. We have to keep pushing. We can turn this thing around pretty easily.”
Florence outhit Gateway, 8-6. Fuentes, Richardson and right fielder Ray Zuberer had two hits each to lead the Y’alls.
Florence plays host to the New York Boulders (26-20) starting Friday at 7:03 p.m.
