jtuscano@observer-reporter.com
Kelly Hunt was close to calling it a career this year. The third baseman for the Florence Freedom has a powerful bat but his way to the major leagues seemed more a dream than reality.
But Hunt decided to return to the game last month and that turned out to be bad news for the Washington Wild Things Saturday night.
"He was going to retire and he got the itch again," said Florence manager Jamie Keefe said. "(Outfielder) Garth McKinney and he are friends. When he decided he wanted to come back, we were lucky enough to get him."
Hunt began a home run barrage through the middle three innings with a solo shot in the fourth and that sparked Florence's come-from-behind 6-4 victory in front of 3,061 fans at Consol Energy Park.
The win moved Florence to 22-22, one-half game behind the Wild Things (22-21).
Hunt's solo home run was followed by a solo shot by Ryan Basham to lead off the fifth and Angel Molina sent a three-run shot in the sixth that turned a 4-2 lead by Washington into a 5-4 lead for the Freedom.
What made those home runs particularly impressive is that they came off Washington starter Aaron Ledbetter, who had pitched brilliantly over the last five starts.
Ledbetter came into the game with a 5-0 record and 2.17 ERA in his last five starts. Throughout the first three innings, he appeared on the way to a sixth straight victory. Florence managed just one hit off Ledbetter (6-3) to that point but by the end of the sixth, he had surrendered five runs on eight hits and was rocked for three home runs.
The most impressive was the first one, launched over the center field wall by Hunt with two outs in the fourth. The ball cleared the wall just to the left of 410-foot sign.
"He has some of the greatest power I've ever seen," Keefe said. "He's super strong."
Hunt came into the game with 12 home runs and 17 runs batted in. He has played only 24 games this season and has a .353 batting average.
"We have to realize that he's just been here three weeks," Keefe said. "He's only had 90-some at bats and we've been hitting him down in our lineup. We're going to have to try to move him up in the lineup."
Basham connected on an 0-2 pitch off Ledbetter to send his home run into one of the advertising signs above the center field fence in the fifth. That home run cut Washington's lead to 4-2.
Molina's shot went over the left-field fence after McKinney doubled and Hunt singled to left. The staked Florence to a 5-4 lead.
"Molina hit a good pitch," said Washington manager Greg Jelks. "Sometimes, you just have to tip your hat to the guy. When Aaron got hurt, he got hurt mostly on bad pitches. He made a mistake on the 0-2 pitch (to Basham) and that cost him."
Still, Washington had its chances to rally. The Wild Things loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth and failed to score.
Chris Carrara started the inning by being hit with a pitch and stole second. Tim Alberts followed with a solid single to left that put Carrara on third. After Kris Rochelle fouled out to the catcher, Brett Grandstrand walked to load the bases. Keefe brought in reliever Stephen Shao, who got Chris Sidick to pop out to second base and Phil Butch to pop out to short.
Jelks wanted to use the suicide squeeze play when Grandstrand was up but Florence starter Everett Saul (5-1) put two pitches under Grandstrand's chin and that made the count 3-1. Grandstrand walked on the next pitch.
"We were looking for it," Jelks said of the squeeze play. "The two pitches (before Grandstrand walked) were the safety squeeze, not the suicide squeeze. The runner has to see the ball make contact on the safety squeeze before he comes down the line.
"It just goes back to not executing. We struggle with that and we have to continue to work on it. We had a great opportunity there."
Washington built an early 4-2 lead by scoring twice in the fourth and fifth innings. Brad Arnett cracked a two-run home run in the fourth and Nathan Messner doubled in two runs in the fifth.
Florence scored a run in the seventh to make it 6-4. Eddie Gonzalez opened the inning with a double and was sacrificed to third. McKinney hit a grounder to second and Butch caught Gonzalez in a rundown. Butch threw to catcher Kris Rochelle, who applied the tag. But Gonzalez knocked the ball out of his glove for an error.