After arriving home from a weekend road-trip in Sauget, Ill. the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, were informed that pitcher Scott Sebald has been tabbed Frontier League Pitcher of the Week.
Sebald
The left-handed starter received the honor for his performance on Saturday night at GCS Credit Union Ballpark, when the Freedom blanked the Gateway Grizzlies, 5-0.
Sebald (3-1, 3.53) was masterful on the bump, netting four perfect innings before plunking Gateway designated hitter, Luke Lowery to start the fifth.
The Cincinnati, Oh native would held the no-hitter for 6.2 frames, before Lowery dropped a flare over first to spoil no-hit history with two outs in the seventh.
Despite surrendering the no-no, Sebald, 25, was able to corral 8.1 shut-out innings of work, ceding just a pair of hits and one walk with 6 whiffs in what became his third win of the season.
Snake-bit with no-decisions early in the year, the southpaw entered that start in Sauget with as many no-decisions as quality starts (6), but broke the tie with his performance, Sebald spinning quality start number seven in ten outings this season.
Florence pitching coach, Brian White said Sebald threw one of his better games this season,” said Everything looked clean out of his hand all game, White said. “You could tell he had confidence in every pitch he threw with his tempo and and the way he was being aggressive. Scott threw a first pitch strike to 25 out of 30 hitters so he had their offense taking uncomfortable swings all night and it showed.”
The Lindsey Wilson College alum is in the midst of his first season with the Freedom, and third in the Frontier League. Prior to arriving in Florence, the lefty pitched a pair of seasons with the Normal CornBelters, and boasts two stints in affiliated baseball with the Rangers and Marlins organizations in 2016 and 2018, respectively.
Sebald ascended as high as A Greensboro with Miami in 2018.
With the honor, Sebald joins teammates, Austin Wobrock and Ricky Ramirez Jr. to land Frontier League Pitcher/Player of the Week accolades this season.
He will toe the slab next on Friday, July 19 when the Freedom return home to UC Health Stadium for a weekend set with their West Division foe, Evansville Otters.
Reichenborn signs with Cardinals
While the Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, were in the St. Louis area for a weekend series with the Gateway Grizzlies, the nearby Cardinals took notice of young, Tyler Reichenborn.
Reichenborn
They signed the outfielder to a minor league contract.
Reichenborn graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan University in 2019, winning the NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho while taking home the gold glove award for his heroics in center-field. Turning pro immediately, the twenty year old arrived in Florence on June 11.
The Brooklyn Park, Minn native made the transition to the professional game seamlessly, hitting .319 (23-72) with 3 home runs and 15 RBI in 20 games. In the penultimate game of his Freedom career on July 7, Reichenborn launched his first multi-homer game (2) against Lake Erie, as part of a 4-5 day at the plate that included 4 RBI.
The outfielder made an immediate impact in his Freedom debut on June 11, scoring, or driving in every run Florence earned in a 3-2 victory over the Schaumburg Boomers in 12 innings at UC Health Stadium.
In addition, Reichenborn gunned down a runner at the plate in extra frames, helping keep the opposition off the board as the Freedom rallied to win it in the next half inning.
“Tyler came in and made an impact on our club immediately,” Freedom manager, Dennis Pelfrey, said, “Not very often does a 20 year old kid come into professional baseball and hold their own. He’s going to have a very long and successful career in baseball and we wish him nothing but the best. Don’t be surprised if you see Tyler in Major League Baseball in the next 4 years.”
Previously drafted in the 35th round, pick 1,064, by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2018, Reichenborn elected to bet on himself and stay in school, believing this opportunity would present itself again.
Reichenborn becomes the second Freedom player to sign with a Major League affiliate in 2019, joining right-handed pitcher, Frank Valentino who was purchased by the Mets on June 27. Florence has now sent ten players on to minor league organization’s since 2017, and 42 players total in franchise history.
The Florence Freedom are members of the Independent Frontier League and play all home games at UC Health Stadium located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, KY. The Freedom can be found online at florencefreedom.com, or by phone at (859) 594-4487.
