FLORENCE — Desperately needing to snap a three-game losing streak, the Florence RedWolves went with a proven recipe Friday night.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT
See more pictures from the RedWolves' game against the Wilson Tobs, click here.
Mixing three parts pitching in Stephen McCray, John Taylor and Will Locante with a dash of power from Sam DiMatteo, the RedWolves cooked up a 5-2 win over the Wilson Tobs at Legion Field.
“McCray, Taylor and Locante all went out there and threw exceptional,” said Florence coach Wes Davis. “They were challenging hitters. They gave us a chance to win and they’ve been doing that all season.”
McCray (2-1) worked the first six innings, gave up five hits, two runs (one earned), walked two and struck out seven.
“Stephen has been great. He’s given us a good start every time he’s been out,” Davis said. “This was his third start. He’s thrown a complete game and gone six innings twice, and that’s all you can ask out of a starter.
“You don’t need somebody to go out there and throw a no-hitter. You just need somebody to get you deep into the game and keep you in it, and Stephen does that.”
Taylor held Wilson hitless over the seventh and eighth innings, striking out two. Locante tossed a perfect ninth for his first save.
With two out in the bottom of the second, the RedWolves jumped to a 3-0 lead when DiMatteo jumped on a fastball from Wilson starter Taylor Miller (0-2) for a three-run homer to left.
The homer is the first of the season for DiMatteo, who was 1-for-3 after entering the game batting .188.
“I was just trying to see a fastball and square it up,” DiMatteo said. “I’ve been having trouble starting my swing early enough because wood is a tiny bit heavier (than metal). I’ve been working in the cage to get my foot down earlier and not trying to do too much.
“I put a nice, easy swing on it tonight and good things happened.”
Florence added two runs in the third for a 5-0 lead.
Zach Caldwell led off the frame with a single to left before a one-out double from Brad Raj put RedWolves on second and third.
Caldwell scored on a groundout by Barrett Kleinknecht to make it 4-0 and Raj scored on an error to make it 5-0.
Wilson pushed across two runs in the sixth to pull within 5-2 and had runners at first and third with one out. McCray got out of the jam, though, when Justin Vasquez bounced into a double play.
Florence (8-7) is tied with Wilson and Wilmington for second place in the CPL South standings, a game back of Fayetteville.
“Our skid hasn’t been because of effort. It hasn’t been because of attitude. It’s because we’ve struggled on the field,” Davis said. “Tonight was a night where we pitched well, hit the ball well and fielded it well.
“You don’t have to be exceptional. You just have to be good. And we were solid in all three aspects of the game tonight.”
The RedWolves play at Columbia tonight at 7 before hosting Fayetteville on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
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