RedWolves lose sixth game in last seven outings

FLORENCE – The 19-8 record that gave the Florence RedWolves the best first-half mark in the Coastal Plain League is long forgotten.

And the team that got to that point? It’s nowhere to be found at the moment.

Florence fought back from deficits a couple times against Columbia on Thursday night, but the Blowfish rallied back each time, eventually winning 10-8 in 10 innings.

Florence (26-18) fell to 7-10 in the second half and has lost six of its last seven games.

“You fight back, you fight back, you fight back and you have a hard time getting a zero on the other end, and that makes it tough,” Florence coach Russell Carter said. “There’s no one person, no one group of players to point at. It’s been one thing one night and one thing the other night.”

Columbia broke an 8-8 tie in the 10th when Ryan McCormick walked, went to second on a balk, to third on Nick Orvin’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Taylor Black’s RBI single to center field.

Black later pulled off a somewhat rare feat, scoring from second on Max McEleney’s infield base hit to deep short to make it 10-8.

The RedWolves left runners stranded at second and third in the bottom of the 10th when Ryan Durrence popped out to first base and Tyler Boyd grounded to short to end the game.

Before Thursday’s two-run loss, three of the RedWolves’ previous four setbacks had been by one run.

It looked like Florence might have the fight in it to turn that trend around. The RedWolves scored three times in the sixth to tie to the game at 5 after trailing 5-2, then took a 7-5 lead in the seventh without the benefit of a base hit.

Florence used four walks, an error and a sacrifice bunt in the inning to take the lead. Ronnie Freeman scored on Peter Mooney’s bases-loaded walk and John Frost was forced home when Stephen Carmon drew a free pass.

But the Blowfish (19-27, 7-11 second half) made it 7-6 in the eighth when Branfy Arias walked, went to second on a throwing error, to third on DeMontez Jones’ sacrifice bunt and scored on McCormick’s ground out to second.

The Blowfish took the lead in the ninth. Taylor Black singled, stole second and scored on Matt Williams’ RBI base hit. Williams, who went to second on a throw to the plate, made it to third on McEleney’s bunt to pitcher Jacob Smith and scored when Smith threw the ball away at first base, the RedWolves’ fourth error of the night. Columbia made six.

“When we make our mistakes, they seem to be at key times,” Carter said. “I think we’ve fought every time out. We’ve been in every game. We just seem to make a mistake at very important times in the game.

“I’m happy with the way they’ve played in terms of effort and energy. It’s just disappointing. It’s embarrassing a little bit to lose at home like that.”

Florence has 10 regular season games remaining in which to get hot heading into the postseason. Friday night, the RedWolves play at Fayetteville. Saturday’s home date against Wilmington will begin at 6:30 p.m. with the resumption of a game suspended earlier because of rain. A seven-inning game will follow.

“I still feel really, really good about our team in terms of our postseason chances,” Carter said. “And there’s still time to get ourselves hot. All it takes is one of these games to go our way and we’ll take off in the right direction. I just think we’re kind of waiting for that spark instead of initiating it a little more.”