RedWolves sweep doubleheader with Wilson

FLORENCE – The Florence RedWolves entered Tuesday night’s doubleheader against Wilson with two objectives: Close the Tobs’ lead in the South Division to two games and tie Edenton for the best record in the Coastal Plain League.

The RedWolves accomplished both goals. Led by the pitching of Logan Munson, Florence took a 7-1 win in the opener. Jamie Walczak’s game-winning, two-run homer in the sixth inning of game two gave the RedWolves a sweep with a 4-3 victory.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth in the nightcap, Walczak took the first pitch he saw from Alex Meyer over the fence in left center for a two-run homer that gave the RedWolves a 4-3 advantage.

Tio McLean (2-3) earned the win in relief of Barrett Kleinknecht, allowing two runs on two hits in an inning pitched. He didn’t strike out a batter but did walk two and threw a wild pitch. Berg tossed a scoreless ninth for his second save.

Meyer (0-3) gave up four runs, all earned, on three hits. The Georgetown standout fanned three batters and walked one.

Munson (2-0) scattered seven hits and allowed an earned run en route to the complete-game win in the opener. The left-hander from North Carolina struck out five batters and walked three.

“He had a little bit of trouble repeating his delivery at the beginning,” Florence coach Wes Davis said of his southpaw starter. “He found a way to battle and stay in the game. We’re proud of his efforts tonight.”

The RedWolves (32-16 overall, 12-9 second half) took advantage of some shaky defense to open the scoring in game one. With Andrew Guerra standing on third base, Myckie Lugbauer hit an apparent inning-ending grounder to short.

Packy Elkins’s throw to first one-hopped Derek Simmons, allowing Guerra to score for a 1-0 Florence lead.

Wilson starter Taylor Miller (2-4) ran into more trouble in the second inning. With runners on the corners and no one out, the right-hander uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Brett Thomas to score to up the Florence lead to 2-0.

Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Guerra lined a shot down the right-field line for his second double of the game. Herman Petzold and Keon Graves scored for a 4-0 lead.

Blake Walker added a sacrifice fly to drive home Walczak to cap the four-run outburst, and the RedWolves led 5-0 after two innings.

Miller allowed four earned runs on three hits in two innings. He didn’t strike out a batter but had three costly walks.

Tobs coach Jeff Steele went to his bullpen in the third, but Paul Novicki didn’t fare much better against the RedWolves. A fielder’s choice, a single and a walk loaded the bases for Walczak. The Florence center fielder lined an RBI single to increase his team’s advantage to 6-0.

Florence added another run against the Tobs (26-22, 14-7) on an RBI Texas leaguer by Darlington’s John Davis. The RedWolves led 7-0 after five innings.

Florence had baserunners in every inning but the sixth. Guerra finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Graves added two hits and a run scored.

“The baseball season’s a grind. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down,” Davis said. “These guys are a little tired after all of those doubleheaders, but I think we’re back on track.”