FLORENCE — Metal? Wood? Apparently, it doesn’t matter what Zach Caldwell takes to the plate. The results are pretty much the same.
Nothing but screamers.
On Thursday night, the center fielder went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI to lead the Florence RedWolves over the Fayetteville Swampdogs 5-2 in a Coastal Plain League game shortened to eight innings by lightning and rain.
In the RedWolves’ season-opening win at Columbia on Wednesday night, Caldwell was 1-for-3. His two-game totals give him a .571 batting average.
Not bad for his first stint in a wooden-bat league.
“I’m not doing anything different at the plate,” said Caldwell, who batted .381 with seven home runs and 31 stolen bases at Missouri Southern in the spring. “It’s the same approach as if I were hitting with metal. I’m just waiting back on the ball and hitting it on the sweet spot.”
Man is he ever. Even his outs, like the towering fly ball he hit to the wall in left in the fourth inning last night, are fun to watch.
“Zach is a strong guy. He’s not just fast. You can tell he gets it done in the weight room, too,” said Florence assistant coach Andrew Noble. “He really works through the ball and hits line drives. He puts the ball in the gaps for extra bases.
“He has the tools to be an exciting player.”
Florence scored three runs in the sixth for a 5-2 lead.
Sam DiMatteo reached on a one-out single and stole second before Cory Briggs walked to put RedWolves at first and second.
A double down the left-field line by Taylor Lewis scored DiMatteo to give Florence a 3-2 lead before a single to right from Caldwell plated Briggs to make it 4-2.
The RedWolves pushed their lead to 5-2 when Lewis scored on a throwing error.
The three-run outburst made a winner out of starter Matt Jebb, who worked six innings, gave up four hits, two runs, walked two and struck out six.
Will Locante held the Swampdogs hitless in the seventh and eighth to earn the save. He walked one and struck out four.
“We’re thrilled to be 2-0,” Noble said. “We’re hitting the ball, throwing the ball well on the mound and playing good defense. We’re doing a lot of things well right now.”
Fayetteville took a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-run double off the left-field wall by Tanner Biagini.
The RedWolves cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the first when Caldwell doubled and scored on a groundout by Barrett Kleinknecht.
Florence tied it 2-2 in the second. Richard Pirkle led off the frame with a single to left, took second on a groundout, moved to third on an infield hit by Lewis and scored on a two-out single to center from Caldwell.
The RedWolves travel to Fayetteville tonight at 7 before hosting Thomasville on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
The pre-game parachute team and post-game fireworks scheduled for last night will be carried over to Saturday.
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