sfoggi posted on June 18, 2011 22:07
DELAND, Fla. (June 18, 2011) - A long night in DeLand at Conrad Park ended perhaps fittingly with a ball that did not leave the infield. After stellar pitching performances by both teams, the DeLand Suns (6-5) bested the Orlando Freedom 2-1 by way of the suicide squeeze.
The Suns struck first in the bottom half of the opening stanza before registering a hit. Stephen Bellantoni (USC-Aiken) started off the inning by reaching on an error, which left the leadoff hitter on second base. After a wild pitch that advanced Bellantoni to third, another error brought in the first run, giving the Suns a 1-0 lead.
Scoring halted in both the top and bottom halves of the second inning, before a lightning delay sat the players down for around an hour. As play resumed so did the strong pitching. With new pitchers for both squads coming in, the game remained a one-run contest through seven innings.
The Freedom (1-11) nearly tied the game up in the top half of the seventh. With two on and two out, Matt Frank (Jacksonville) struck a single to right field. Right fielder Brett Knief (Seminole St.) came up firing to home to nab the runner for the final out of the inning.
One inning later, the Freedom evened the score. Anthony Caronia (Tampa) and Zach Houck (Jacksonville) each reached on errors and were moved over by a Jake Huxtable (Santa Fe) sacrifice. Matt Mattone (Palm Beach St.) was put on by way of the intentional free pass to load the bases. Chris Suto (Lake Sumter) brought home the run on a fielder’s choice and the game was locked at one.
Nine innings proved not to be enough as both teams went quietly in the final stanza. After the Freedom were unable to push across a run in the top half of the tenth, the Suns made it official. After Bellantoni reached on a single and advanced onto third with just one out, JT Warmoth (Embry-Riddle) put down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt and Bellantoni came home to give DeLand the 2-1 victory.
For both squads, the pitching was dominant. Freedom pitchers Taylor Hammond (Samford), Josh Larson (Santa Fe), Andy Ladisa (Southern Wesleyan) and Joe Burns (Samford) went a combined two runs allowed on just four hits, while adding four strikeouts compared to just three walks. Burns (0-1) was pegged with his first loss on the year.
The Suns pitching was just as effective as Myles Smith (Deerborn HS), Gage Smith (Florida St.), Dane Stone (St. Thomas) and Jairo Acevedo (Bethune-Cookman) combined for just one run on six hits, striking out seven and walking only two. Acevedo (2-0) grabbed the victory.
The loss pushed the Freedom’s losing streak to seven, but the club will have another chance to break the streak tomorrow afternoon (June 19) against the Leesburg Lightning (9-2) on the road at Pat Thomas Stadium. The Father’s Day contest is slated to begin at 5 p.m.
Jake Snyder (Marshall University)