The Florence Freedom (8-9) almost overcame a ten run deficit in the eighth inning, but ultimately fell two runs short to lose their third straight game. The Freedom’s record drops below .500 for the first time since June 1st, when they had a 5-6 record.

Gateway struck first for the third straight game. Ryne Malone hit a lead-off double and scored when Mike Breyman hit an RBI double. Michael Campbell scored the second run of the inning on a fielders choice from John Alonso. Freedom pitcher Chris Ingoglia (2-2) struck out Stephan Holdren to end the inning and strand one runner on base.
The Gateway Grizzlies scored twice more in the second and once more in the third to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Stephan Holdren hit a two run homer in the top of the 5th to extend the lead to 7-0. In the top of the 8th Mike Breyman hit a two out three run homer to give the Grizzlies a near insurmountable 10-0 lead.

The resilient Freedom did not go quietly. Starting pitcher Adam Revelette (1-0) pitched seven brilliant innings, allowing only three hits and no runs. However, the Freedom got to him in the eighth inning. The inning started with a double from the red-hot Nick Salotti. Welch followed that up with a single of his own. After a Mottram strike out, Jeff Landry hit his first homer of the season, a three run shot which cut the lead to 10-7. Gateway manager Phil Warren pulled Revelette and put in reliever John Ganzen.

Ganzen had a tough afternoon as he failed to retire a Freedom batter. Tim Grogan and Josh Lex hit back to back singles before Ryan Bashum pulled a three run homer down the right field line. Florence was now only four runs back of the visiting Gateway Grizzlies. Angel Molina hit a single to left field and Garth McKinney broke out of his slump when he hammered a pitch over the center field wall. McKinney picked up two runs batted in and cut the lead to 10-8. The homer from McKinney ended John Ganzen’s afternoon and the Gateway Grizzlies brought in Zach Grey.
Grey gave up a single to Nick Salotti, his second single of the inning. Welch then struck out swinging to record the second out of the inning. Mottram hit a two out single, which was the 9th hit of the inning by the Freedom. Landry grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning, but the damage was done. Every batter in the Freedom lineup had at least one hit in the bottom of the 8th inning, and Mottram was the only Florence hitter not to score a run in the eighth. Florence scored eight times in the inning on a whopping ten hits. The ten run Gateway lead was now cut to two.

It would not be enough for the Freedom, as they failed to score in the 9th and lost the game 10-8. Garth McKinney, the winning run, grounded out to first to end the game. Florence drops to 0-3 on the homestead and 8-9 overall.
Josh Bruns will try to end the losing streak as he takes the hill against the visiting Chillicothe Paints. Bruns has a 2-0 record and a 4.15 ERA heading into tomorrow’s game.

The Freedom play one game against Chillicothe before ending their homestead with a three game series against the Evansville Otters.