Game Recap

Y’alls Clinch Series to Open Road Trip

PATERSON, NJ – The Florence Y’alls (25-32), presented by Towne Properties, clinched their second consecutive series win with a 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Jackals (35-20) at Hinchliffe Stadium on Thursday.

Pitching dominated the early portion of the series finale. Florence righthander Edgar Martinez (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K) held the Jackals’ league-leading offense scoreless through the first three innings. New Jersey starter Yuichi Shiota (3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K) matched Martinez through three innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth inning.

The Y’alls burst onto the scoreboard with a five-run fourth. A leadoff walk to designated hitter Craig Massey and a single from first baseman Brennan Price set up right fielder Harrison DiNicola, who hit a one-out three-run home run to give the Y’alls a 3-0 lead. Left fielder Ray Zuberer then hit a solo homer for back-to-back long balls that extended the lead to 4-0. Center fielder Cole Brannen doubled with two down before the Jackals switched pitchers, but second baseman Tristin Garcia singled home Brannen against Jackals’ lefthander Cody Whitten. Heading to the bottom of the fourth, the Y’alls led 5-0.

New Jersey battled back for two runs in its half of the fourth. After a leadoff single from third baseman James Nelson and a fielding error that allowed first baseman Keon Barnum to reach, left fielder Josh Rehwaldt hit a sacrifice fly to score Nelson from third and cut the lead to 5-1. Two batters later, catcher Rusber Estrada hit into a fielder’s choice that scored Barnum and brought New Jersey to within 5-2.

The Jackals scored another in the eventh when second baseman Nilo Rijo walked to lead off, stole second, advanced to third on a lineout, then scored on a wild pitch. The Jackals would draw no closer, and the Y’alls capitalized with a run in the eighth on a Ray Zuberer sacrifice fly. In the ninth, righthander Brian McKenna nailed down his fifth save of the year to give the Y’alls a series victory.

Florence has now won the regular season series with New Jersey 4-2. The Y’alls head to Ottawa to finish out their road trip with a three-game set against the Titans. First pitch for Game 1 from Ottawa is Friday, July 21st at 6:30 p.m. ET.

The Florence Y’alls are Northern Kentucky’s professional baseball team, and are proud members of the independent Frontier League, an MLB Partner League. With a purposeful focus on entertaining our fans, the Y’alls provide affordable, family-friendly entertainment. Y’alls home games are played at Thomas More Stadium, located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, Kentucky. More details can be found online at florenceyalls.com (http://florenceyalls.com/) or by phone at (859) 594-4487.