Florence Freedom vs. Schaumburg Boomers (Frontier League)

UC Health Stadium-Florence, KY:  I sat at my desk at work last Friday night, keeping an eye on the score on the computer, hoping the Florence Freedom would pull it off.  Already down two games to none, another loss would mean the series would be over, and the Schaumburg Boomers would be champs of the Frontier League.  Worse for me, it would mean no baseball game to attend the next day.  Lucky for me, and the Freedom, I guess, Florence prevailed in 12 innings to keep the series going. So Saturday night, Brian and I made the trip up to see what could be a championship for the Boomers, or another game for the Freedom.  I was a little shocked to see the game tickets at $20 a piece, even for a championship series.  You’d think the home team would really want the local fan base to fill the park (not a huge crowd for such a big game…).  At least Brian was able to get a photo op with Y’All Star as soon as we entered the stadium.

We sat down the third base side by the Schaumburg dugout, and the Boomers soon became one of Brian’s favorite teams, as I still rooted for the Freedom.   The Boomers took the lead in the second inning, however, on a solo home run. Taylor Oldham tied the game for Florence with an RBI double in the third.  In the fourth inning, Rock Shoulders hit a monster home run to put the Boomers up 2-1, quickly followed by another Schaumburg dinger.  An RBI double put the Boomers up 4-1.  Rock Shoulders is an awesome name.  Like this guy wasn’t destined to be a professional athlete…

About this time we needed a treat, so Brian landed on the Funnel Cake Deluxe.  This was served in a helmet, and consisted of a funnel cake, a crap load of ice cream, whipped cream, sprinkles and Oreo pieces.  It was amazing, and both of us together couldn’t even finish it!

The sixth inning added more runs for Schaumburg.  They hit another home run, and a sacrifice fly scored another to take a commanding 6-1 lead in the game. Florence came back with a two-out run in the bottom of the inning, to cut the lead to 6-2.  Andrew Godbold paced the offence for the Freedom, going 2-3 with a run scored.

Between innings, Brian was supposed to participate in an on-field race, but back out once he learned he would be wearing over-sized underwear… Oh well, at least he did run across the field during the seventh inning stretch.

On the mound for Florence,  Cody Gray got the start and took the loss.  He tossed four innings, giving up four runs on seven hits, while striking out six.  He would be replaced by Tony Vocca, who gave up two runs on two hits in 1.1 innings of work.  Kit Fowler started for the Boomers, pitching three innings and giving up a run.  Michael Wood would earn the win, tossing 4.2 inning, giving up one run  and striking out four.  FINAL:  Freedom 2, Boomers 6.

After the final out, it was time for celebration for the Boomers.  I don’t care what age you are or what level of ball you play, when you win a championship it is a big deal.  Congratulations to Schaumburg, they definitely deserve it.  And congratulations to the Florence Freedom on a great season also.  We’ll be back at UC Health Stadium next season.

And of course they got to pass around the Frontier Cup and hold the Frontier League Championship banner:

As Brian likes to celebrate with winners, I found him out on the field celebrating with the Boomers! A few of the players were nice enough to take a photo with him.

I’ll leave off with a very short video of Brian getting a game ball from his new favorite player Kyle Ruchim of Schaumburg.  This is what makes the sport we love so great…

Video and photos property of Minoring In Baseball