sfoggi posted on June 21, 2011 22:49
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (June 21, 2011) - A back-and-forth battle found the Orlando Freedom on the winning end of a 10-8 contest against the Winter Haven Loggerheads Tuesday night. The game featured seven lead changes and was only tied upon the completion of an inning once.
“Great effort,” Freedom Head Coach Scott Makarewicz said of his squad. “Everybody is playing with heart, staying focused and it shows.”
The Freedom (3-11) got things going in the first inning after a leadoff walk by Zack Houck (Jacksonville), followed by a single by Anthony Caronia (Tampa). Houck then stole third and a fielder’s choice brought him home to give Orlando the one-run lead.
Winter Haven got that run back, plus another in the second, to take a 2-1 lead. The Loggerheads added one more in the third to push the lead to 3-1.
Orlando took back control of the contest in the fifth after a scoreless fourth inning by both squads. The Freedom put up three runs in the top half of the fifth inning as A.J. Mackey (Gulf Coast CC), Anthony Siler (Brevard CC) and Houck crossed the dish to take a 4-3 lead.
Again, the Loggerheads (6-7) responded. Winter Haven put up two runs in the bottom of the inning and for the fourth time, the lead changed, moving to 5-4 in favor of the home team.
Not to be outdone, Orlando added another run in the sixth and one more in the seventh to grab a 6-5 lead. The sixth run came via a Matt Frank (Jacksonville) single to bring in Houck for the third time on the night.
Of course, the Loggerheads were not done either. The club put up two runs in the seventh, and seemed to take control of the game when they added one more in the bottom of the eighth pushing their lead to 8-6.
But the Freedom had a ninth inning comeback in store for the crowd. With one out, Siler drew a walk, which Houck followed with a single. Caronia blasted a double to right center that brought home both runners to tie the contest. Jake Huxtable (FAU) drew another walk to put two on for Frank, who cranked a double to left center that brought home two more to give the Freedom their biggest lead of the game, up two.
Joe Burns (Samford) came in to pitch for the Freedom with a save opportunity. Burns pitched around a single to grab his first save on the season.
The victory gave Orlando two consecutive victories for the first time on the season. Houck, Caronia and Frank lead the way with the offensive onslaught. Houck scored four times and added two hits. Caronia grabbed three hits and knocked in two. Frank blasted two hits as well, while plating three Freedom runners.
“Guys kept having good at bats,” Makarewicz said. “We got some good situational hitting today. Matt Frank was big today.”
Ryan Caporice (Santa Fe) pitched two innings in relief and grabbed the win for Orlando. Branden Keen (North Florida) also pitched two relief innings after starter Tim Koons worked through four solid innings as the starter.
The Freedom will be back in action Wednesday (June 22) on the road against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs. Orlando will look to extend the longest winning streak on the season to three. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.
Jake Snyder (Marshall University)