sfoggi posted on June 03, 2011 22:52
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (June 3, 2011) - The Orlando Freedom brought out the bats in the season opener for the new franchise, but could not muster up enough offense as the team dropped the contest to the Winter Haven Loggerheads, 8-5, at Chain of Lakes Field.
”I’m really happy with their enthusiasm and their effort today,” Freedom Head Coach Scott Makarewicz said. “After the first game jitters, we settled down really nice there.”
The Freedom (0-1) totaled the same number of hits as the Loggerheads with eight. Orlando also grabbed six walks, but left nine on base in the game.
The Loggerheads got on the board in their first at-bat of the contest after back-to-back walks by starting Freedom pitcher Corben Madden (Seminole St.). After a Madden wild pitch to advance the runners to second and third, Winter Haven logged back-to-back groundouts to short, scoring both runners.
Madden then settled down after a rough first, closing out the second and third innings without allowing a run. In his first outing of the season, Madden went four innings, giving up five earned runs on just four hits. He also added three strikeouts.
“The first inning was rough,” Madden said. “I couldn’t find my change-up. The second inning wasn’t bad. I was able to get ahead with some fastballs and use my curveball.”
The Freedom notched their first run in the second inning after a leadoff double by Jake Huxtable (Santa Fe). Orlando would use a fielder’s choice to move Huxtable over and a groundout to short to score the run.
Orlando added a second run in the fourth inning when Jason Anderson (Daytona St.) hit a one out double and A.J. Mackey (FGCU) followed with a single to knock in the run.
Winter Haven added two more in the bottom of the fourth to push the lead to 5-2. The Freedom would get a run back in the following inning on a Jake Huxtable two-out double to score Aaron Spragg (Lipscomb). In the sixth, Winter Haven pitcher Ryan Heuler would walk four Freedom hitters to push in a run and close the deficit to 5-4.
Heuler would find a rhythm after the walks going three innings in relief giving up no more runs while striking out six. The Loggerheads tacked on some insurance runs, adding two runs in the sixth and one in the eighth to push the lead to four, 8-4.
Orlando grabbed one final run in the top of the ninth with an RBI by Matt Mattone (Palm Beach St.) for an 8-5 final.
Leading the charge for the Freedom with the sticks were Spragg and Huxtable. Each grabbed two hits while knocking in one and scoring one a piece. Mattone, Mackey and Lawrence Pardo each added another RBI.
Shortstop Anthony Caronia (SCF-Mantee) had a stellar performance in the field recording eight putouts for the Freedom.
“It was just a good day,” Caronia said of his performance in the field. “I got a lot of ground balls and I ended up fielding them all. It was nice.”
The loss puts the Freedom at 0-1 for the season, while the Loggerheads improve to 1-0. Orlando will be back in action on Saturday (June 4) against the defending FCSL Champion Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at Alfond Stadium. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Jake Snyder (Marshall University)