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Freedom swing to sweep against Bombers, Ramirez, Jr. blasts go-ahead homer in seventh inning


The Florence Freedom, presented by Titan Mechanical Solutions, improved to 9-0 against the Schaumburg Boomers with a, 3-2, win that netted the club a series sweep at Boomers Stadium Thursday.

Freedom (48-29) starter Zak Spivy (1-5) was counter-punching Boomers (38-37) hurler, Payton Lobdell (2-7) over five shut-out innings on both sides before the home team took the first lead.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Quincy Nieporte and Matt Rose launched back-to-back jacks, both solo-shots as Schaumburg took their first lead of the series, 2-0.

Despite failing to get a hit over their first six at-bats off Lobdell, Florence erased the deficit in the top of the seventh.

After Caleb Lopes worked his second walk of the night, Luis Pintor ended the pitcher’s bid for history, lining a double down the line in right to put runners on the edges with nobody out.

Ricky Ramirez Jr., then laced a three-run shot to deep right to propel the Freedom in front, 3-2. The round-tripper was the sixth of the year for Ramirez, who now has 48 RBI on the season.

Spivy would step aside after finding the first out in the seventh. Southpaw Hayden Wheeler toed the rubber with two men on, both in scoring position in the one-run game.

Wheeler got Jack Parenty to ground into a fielder’s choice that cut down the tying run at the plate, before inducing Nick Oddo to ground out to first to retire the side.

Spivy landed his second straight quality start, spanning 6.1 innings while allowing two runs, both earned, on six hits with two walks and one whiff in what became his first professional win.

Power-righty, Jared Cheek would replace Wheeler on the hill in the eighth and stranded a runner at first as he punched-out the side.

Cheek tallied his first save, fanning a pair while facing the minimum in the ninth and slammed the door on the, 3-2 Freedom win. Florence is now 17-13 in one-run affairs in 2019.

Florence continues its nine-game road-trip as the team travels to O’Fallon, Missouri for a three-game series with the River City Rascals.

Probable starters in the weekend opener are Mike Castellani (6-2, 2.81 ) for the Freedom, opposite righty, Brendan Feldmann (5-1, 1.65) of the Rascals, with first pitch slated for 6:35 p.m. CDT at CarShield Field.

The Freedom have announced that discounted ticket deals for the 2019 Frontier League playoffs are on sale now. Call 859-594-4487 ext. 11 for more information.

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. 

Florence Freedom


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