Fremont, Nebraska- After dropping its last three games, the Fremont Moo bounced back with an 11-1 victory over The Plainsmen, Friday night at Historic Moller Field, in Independence League Baseball Association action. Two home runs and solid play sparked The Moo toward the victory.
The visiting Plainsmen started the scoring in the top of the first. With two outs against Fremont starter Reece Kortum, The Plainsmen’s Luke Froehlich drew a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, Chris Ortega singled, scoring Froehlich, to make it 1-0. However, that is the only run The Plainsmen would tally on the night.
The Moo responded in the bottom of the first. Against Plainsmen starter Cade Ritchey, Fremont’s Isaac Bonner led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a passed ball, plus an errant throw by Plainsmen catcher Sam Bradshaw, advanced Bonner to third. Then, a wild pitch scored Bonner, to tie the score at 1-1. Bridger Coleman drew a walk. Two batters later, Stephen Espinoza was hit by a pitch. After a strikeout of Grant Nottleman, Jack Torosian, making his Fremont debut, singled, scoring Coleman, to put Fremont in front, 2-1. A wild pitch scored Espinoza, to give Fremont a 3-1 lead.
Fremont added a run in the bottom of the second. With one out, Connor Petersen singled and Isaac Bonner did the same, to put runners at the corners. The Plainsmen went to the bullpen and brought in Xavier Salazar to pitch. He immediately picked off Isaac Bonner at first for the second out, but walked Bridger Coleman and Collin Pitts. Petersen scored on a wild pitch, before an Espinoza single and a Nottleman strikeout ended the inning, with Fremont in front 4-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, Isaac Bonner led off with a triple to the left center field gap. Then, Bridger Coleman grounded out to shortstop, scoring Bonner, to make it a 5-1 Fremont lead.
The Moo added another run in the bottom of the fifth. Grant Nottleman led off with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Carson Burnett singled, scoring Nottleman, to put Fremont up 6-1.
Fremont batters started making solid contact in the late innings. In the bottom of the seventh against Plainsmen reliever Chase Reynolds, Carson Burnett hit a two-out solo home run over the “Moller Monster”, to make it a 7-1 Fremont lead.
The big inning for Fremont came in the bottom of the eighth, as The Moo sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs. Against reliever Darius Blasingane, Isaac Bonner led off with a double. Then, Bridger Coleman drew a walk. Collin Pitts singled, driving home Bonner to make it 8-1. On the play, Coleman was thrown out, trying to advance from first to third. Then, Stephen Espinoza doubled, to put runners at second and third. The next batter, Dean Reynolds, hit a three-run home run, just to the right of the scoreboard in right center field, to make it an 11-1, Moo advantage.
In the top of the ninth, Fremont reliever Theo Hughes got Chris Ortega to ground out to shortstop. Brody Boyle struck out, but advanced to first on a wild pitch. Hughes got Jordan Massis to ground out to second for the second out. Andrew Cuff drew a walk, but Hughes got Sam Bradshaw to ground out to first base for the final out of the game.
Fremont (19-14, 6-3) scored eleven runs off thirteen hits, with one error. The Plainsmen (1-14, 1-9) had one run off five hits and two errors.
Moo starter Reece Kortum (3-2) earned the win. He pitched 6.0 innings, giving up one run off four hits, struck out four and walked two with one wild pitch. Fremont newcomer Parker Otte pitched 2.0 innings, giving up one hit and struck out three. Theo Hughes worked 1.0 inning, striking out one, walked one and had one wild pitch.
Plainsmen starter Cade Ritchey (0-1) took the loss. He pitched 1.1 innings, giving up three earned runs off three hits, struck out three, walked two, had three wild pitches and hit one batter. Xavier Salazar worked 4.1 innings, giving up two runs off four hits, struck out six and walked three. Chase Reynolds pitched 1.0 inning, giving up one run off two hits, one of which was a home run by Carson Burnett. Darius Blasingane pitched 1.0 inning, giving up four runs off four hits, struck out two, walked one, yielded a three-run home run to Dean Reynolds, had one wild pitch and hit one batter.
Offensively for Fremont, Isaac Bonner was 3-for-4. Bridger Colman went 0-for-2 with an rbi groundout. Collin Pitts was 1-for-4 with an rbi. Stephen Espinoza was 2-for-4. Dean Reynolds was 1-for-2 with a three-run home run. Jack Torosion went 2-for-4 with an rbi. Carson Burnett was 2-for-5 with a solo home run and two runs batted in.
For The Plainsmen, Chris Ortega was 1-for-4 with an rbi.
Game three of the four-game series is Saturday night at Historic Moller Field, with first pitch at 7:05 p.m.
