sfoggi posted on July 16, 2011 21:03
ORLANDO (July 16, 2011) - The Orlando Freedom brought home four runs in the first inning and a strong bullpen closed the door as the club defeated the DeLand Suns 7-3 Saturday night.
The Freedom bullpen pitched four innings without allowing an earned run. The pen has not allowed an earned run in 12 2/3 consecutive innings. Ryan Caporice (Santa Fe), Josh Larson (Santa Fe) and CJ Kelly (Seminole St.) combined in four innings of work, allowing no earned runs, along with just one hit and six strikeouts.
Starter Tim Koons (Fort Scott CC) was nearly as effective, picking up his second victory of the year in five innings. Koons allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out five. The right-handed hurler threw first pitch strikes to 17 of the 22 batters he faced.
Orlando racked up four runs in the first inning on four hits. All the runs were scored with two outs. With two on and two out, Chris Suto (Lake Sumter) knocked a triple to the right field wall to bring in the first two runs. Matt Mattone (Palm Beach St.) followed with a double to score Suto, and Lawrence Pardo (Santa Fe) punched a single to push the lead to four.
The pace of the game sped up after the first as the Suns picked up a single run in the third and fourth innings to close the gap. In the sixth, the Freedom added another run after Mattone hit his second double of the day, and scored on an error.
DeLand took the run back in the eighth when a wild pitch allowed Brandon Turner (Bethune Cookman) to scamper home.
Again the Freedom responded, picking up two more in the bottom of the inning to put the contest out of reach. Mattone grabbed his third hit of the day to bring in Jason Anderson (Brevard CC) and an error brought home Suto.
Kelly worked the bottom of the ninth to close out the victory for the Freedom. The win gave the club their fifth victory in seven games and pushed the club out of last place in the Florida League standings for the first time all season. Orlando jumped up two spots into fourth.
Mattone led the way Saturday night, grabbing three hits while knocking in two and scoring twice. Suto also brought two runners home and scored twice. Jason Anderson collected two hits and scored twice, as well.
The Freedom will be back in action Sunday (July 16) against the first place Winter Park Diamond Dawgs at Orel Hershiser Field. The two squads will meet in two seven-inning contests to make up for a rain out. The twinbill is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
Jake Snyder (Marshall University)