Courtesy of Rich Ray
Fremont-7, Spearfish- 1
Fremont (R-H-E): 7-11-1, Spearfish (R-H-E): 1-4-3
HR: Fremont: Tyman Long (6th, 1 on in first inning); HR: Spearfish: None
Fremont, Nebraska- The Fremont Moo scored in each of the first four innings and four pitchers combined to limit four Sasquatch hits, in a 7-1 Fremont win over Spearfish Wednesday, at Historic Moller Field.
The Moo got on the board with a bang in the bottom of the first. Josh Blount reached on a fielder’s choice. With one out, Tyman Long hit an 0-2 pitch off Sasquatch starter Gunner Thompson, over the left-center field fence for a two-run home run, putting the Moo up, 2-0.
In the bottom of the second, Blake Tablazon reached on a one-out base on balls. An errant pickoff attempt by Thompson advanced Tablazon to second. Tablazon then stole third and on Spearfish catcher Christian Soto’s errant throw, Tablazon scored, making it 3-0.
Fremont extended the lead in the third. Tyler Harrington led off with a double off the left field fence. Two batters later, Ben Swails delivered a rbi single, scoring Harrington, making it 4-0, Fremont. Swails stole second and third before Tyler Hummel reached on a walk. The Sasquatch went to the bullpen and brought in Julio Romero. The first batter Romero faced was Jason Clark, and the Fremont first baseman hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Swails, to make it 5-0. After Tablazon drew a walk, leadoff batter Christian Hobbs delivered a rbi single, scoring Hummel, to make it 6-0, the Moo.
In the bottom of the fourth, Fremont added its final run of the night. Long led off with a single and Harrington followed with a walk. In the next at-bat, Sasquatch catcher Soto tried to backpick Long at second. Long took off for third and Spearfish shortstop Luis Reyes’ thow to third bounced into the Fremont dugout, allowing Long to score, to make it 7-0.
Spearfish plated its lone run in the fifth. Soto singled with two outs and Moo reliever Brandon Lundquist hit Bryson Hoier and Ryan Bachman with pitches on consecutive at-bats. Soto would then score on a wild pitch, to cap the game’s scoring in the fifth inning.
Braden Sweet pitched the ninth inning for Fremont. He gave up a leadoff single to pinch hitter Oliver Wilson, but bounced back to strike out pinch hitter Dylan Richey, and got Hoier to hit into a 6-4-3 groundout double play, to end the game.
Fremont starter Luke Gainer, an Omaha native at Nebraska-Omaha, pitched 4.0 innings. He gave up two hits, two walks, struck out five and hit one batter. Brandon Lundquist (1-0) picked up the win. The Omaha native, at the University of Nebraska, pitched two innings, giving up one hit, one run, walked two, struck one three, had one wild pitch and hit three batters. Luke Hamzeh, the Gilbert, Arizona native, at Midland University, pitched 2.0 innings, giving up one walk and struck out two. Braden Sweet, the Omaha native at Iowa Western Community College, pitched 1.0 inning, giving up one hit and struck out one.
Spearfish starter Gunner Thompson (0-1), took the loss. He pitched 2.1 innings, giving up six hits, five earned runs, three walks, struck out two, gave up the home run to Long, and had one wild pitch. Julio Romero pitched 5.2 innings, giving up five hits, one unearned run, walked three, struck out seven and had one wild pitch.
Offensively, Fremont’s Christian Hobbs was 3-for-5. The Omaha native at Black Hawk Community College had three singles and a rbi. Josh Blount went 2-for-5. The DePere, Wisconsin native at Iowa Central Community College had a double and a single. Tyman Long was 2-for-5. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native at Southern Nevada University hit a two-run home run and a single. Tyler Harrington, the Lakeland, Tennessee native, headed to the University of Alabama-Birmingham, was 2-for-3 with a single and a double. Ben Swails, the Tiffin, Iowa native at the University of Iowa, was 2-for-3 with a rbi and stole two bases.
More Information: With the win, the Moo moved ten games above .500 for the first time this season. With Christian Hobbs’ single in the bottom of the first, he stretched his hit streak to seven straight games. With Fremont and Badlands both winning Wednesday night, both teams remain in a tie for first in the Independence League Baseball Association standings. As part of the “Moo Win, You Win” promotion, all fans that held onto their tickets may redeem them at the Wednesday, June 28th game versus the Nebraska Prospects, for a free general admission ticket to the 7:05pm game.
Up Next: Fremont (15-5) will play Spearfish (4-10) in the final game of the three game series, Thursday night. The Moo will try for the sweep, with first pitch at 7:05pm. Thursday is MVD (Most Valuable Dad) night. For those that were nominated at www.fremontmoo.com, winners will be announced with great prizes given away and honorable mentions will be recognized, throughout the game, as well. For tickets, go to www.fremontmoo.com/tickets, or call (402)- 660-1217.
On the Air: All Moo home and road games are broadcast on radio on Big Dog Country, 98.9 FM and 1340 AM, KHUB. Games can be heard on smartphones, iPads, and other mobile devices via the Moo website: www.fremontmoo.com/mixlr. All Moo home games also have live video streamed at: www.fremontmoo.com and on YouTube at: BSDN Live.
