sfoggi posted on June 05, 2011 21:19
ORLANDO, Fla. (June 6, 2011) - The Orlando Freedom (0-3) pitchers struggled early and often in Sunday’s home opener at Orel Hershiser Field at The First Academy, falling 13-3 to the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (3-0).
The game marked the second straight night in which the Diamond Dawgs got the better of the Orlando club, out slugging the Freedom with 18 hits to Orlando’s five.
For the third straight game, Orlando pitching gave up first inning runs that forced the Freedom to play catch up for the rest of the day. The Winter Park squad allowed very little opportunity for the Freedom to do so, breaking the game open quickly.
The scoring began for the Diamond Dawgs in the first after starting Freedom pitcher Tim Koons (Fort Scott CC) allowed a single followed by a walk. The runners would attempt a double steal and a throwing error by the catcher allowed the first run to come home. Winter Park added two more in the inning with a single and a sac fly.
The Freedom went down quietly in the first, but after a quiet second for the Diamond Dawgs, Orlando got on the board in the second. With runners on first and second designated hitter Robbie Haben (George Washington) pounded a single to right field to knock in the first Freedom run.
Anthony Caronia (SCF-Mantee) followed Haben’s single with one of his own to knock in another. Caronia finished the day with two hits, one RBI, a run scored and a stolen base.
The Diamond Dawgs were able to break open the 3-2 lead in the third, adding two more runs on Koons. The right-handed hurler took the loss in four innings of work giving up five runs on seven hits.
The Diamond Dawgs picked up two more runs in the fifth and sixth innings respectively. After the Freedom picked up one run in the seventh off of a Jake Huxtable (Santa Fe) RBI to score Caronia, Winter Park again tacked onto the lead, grabbing another two runs in the eighth and ninth innings.
Freedom Head Coach Scott Makarewicz ran through the bullpen using four pitchers in relief as each allowed two runs. One bright spot for the Orlando pitching staff was Josh Larson (Santa Fe). Larson gave up two runs, that which went off as unearned. He went two solid innings giving up only two hits and showing a powerful fastball with a complimentary breaking ball to go with it.
Another positive note for the Freedom staff was the apparent end of control problems. The Orlando squad had given up 17 walks in just 16 innings of work in their first two outings. The staff was able to find the zone in Sunday’s contest, walking just three.
Unfortunately for the Freedom, many of the balls that found the zone also found holes in the Orlando defense. The top four hitters in the Winter Park line up put up stellar numbers combining for an 11-for-20 day with eight runs scored, five runs batted in, and two walks.
For the Freedom, the loss pushed the team to a 0-3 start. The Orlando club will look to get the first one in the win column for the new franchise Tuesday, July 7 against the Leesburg Lightning (3-0). The Lightning have shown a powerful offense in the first three games, racking up 31 runs in the young season. The Freedom pitching staff will no doubt have their hands full in attempting to stifle that offense. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. at Orel Hershiser Field at The First Academy.
Jake Snyder (Marshall University)