Game Recap

Y’alls Drop Heartbreaker, Road Series

EVANSVILLE, IN – The Florence Y’alls (35-54), presented by Towne Properties, saw late mistakes and a stagnant offense come back to bite them in a 4-3 defeat to the Evansville Otters (49-39) that clinched Florence’s sixth consecutive series loss.

After a two-hour, eight-minute delay pushed the start of the game back, pitching dominated the early going. Y’alls’ starter Carter Spivey (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K) was brilliant once again versus the Otters. After two starts and a combined zero runs allowed in 13 innings against Evansville, Spivey held the Otters off the board through five innings. On the other side, Evansville righthander Tim Holdgrafer (7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K) dominated in his second time facing Florence. Through five and a half innings, the game was tied 0-0. Evansville finally broke through in the bottom of the sixth inning. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases for right fielder Bryan Rosario, who hit a soft grounder to second base. Y’alls second baseman Tristin Garcia could not cleanly pick up the ball, and his error allowed the Otters to score their first two runs of the day.

Evansville held its 2-0 lead into the eighth inning before Florence rallied against a pair of Otter relievers. Lefthander Leoni De La Cruz entered and immediately walked third baseman Brian Fuentes ahead of designated hitter Brennan Price, who singled to reach base and move Fuentes to third. With runners at the corners, first baseman Craig Massey’s RBI groundout scored Fuentes and moved Price to second in a 2-1 game. After catcher Zade Richardson singled against Evansville righthander Kevin Davis, center fielder Ray Zuberer hit a sacrifice fly to score Price from third and tie the game 2-2.

After grabbing back momentum, the Y’alls saw their advantage evaporate in the bottom of the eighth. Evansville put its first two hitters aboard when third baseman Jomar Reyes singled, and first baseman Kona Quiggle walked. After a fielder’s choice, Bryan Rosario hit a ground ball to third base. Brian Fuentes began a potential double play by throwing to second, but Tristin Garcia threw inaccurately to first, causing another run to score. The run gave Evansville a new lead, and the Otters tacked on more when shortstop George Callil hit an infield single to score Rosario from third base. Down 4-2 in the ninth, the Y’alls rallied against Evansville righthander Jake Polancic. Right fielder Hank Zeisler singled with one out, then scored on a two-base error on Evansville second baseman Ethan Skender. With Lane Hoover at second base in a 4-3 game, a strikeout and a flyout ended the Y’alls’ comeback opportunity.

Florence has now lost the series against Evansville. The Y’alls can head home with a win and avoid a sweep on Sunday in Game 3. First pitch from Bosse Field is scheduled for 12:35 p.m. CT.

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.