By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Head congestion as a result of tree blossoms nearly kept Nico Freville from taking the mound on Wednesday. The junior right-hander turned seasonal allergies into an ally and a win for Spencerport baseball.
Freville struck out a dozen, and Spencerport defeated host Gates Chili, 14-2 in Section V Baseball action on Wednesday.
The win was a season-high third straight for the Rangers (8-8) who have already more than doubled their win total from a year ago.
“It feels great,” Freville said “To get to .500 is a great feeling. Obviously, last year it didn’t feel good when you win three games in the regular season. To have this great group of people together, the coaches always being supportive, it just feels good to finally get those wins.”
Freville faced the minimum through the first three innings and didn’t allow a hit until the fourth. An unearned run in the fifth broke up his shutout.
Nicholas Freville leaves a one-out single (first hit allowed of the game) at first. Junior right-hander has faced one over the minimum through four. Spencerport 10 Gates Chili 0 pic.twitter.com/DcnfUdfgEI
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 10, 2023
“My fastball was working,” he said. “They weren’t able to get good contact on it. I trust my coach and catcher. They were calling a good mix of curveballs and changeups. I love my changeup. It was effective. My curveball didn’t start off at its best, but I got the second time through the order. With two strikes, it’s always nice to have the off-speed.”
Spenceport’s offense gave Freville all the runs needed and then some in a nine-run second when the Rangers sent 14 batters to the plate.
Bryon Streb, Freville and Shaun Cannon sparked the outburst with consecutive singles to lead the inning.
“They were ready to break out,” Rangers’ head coach Larry Frisa said. “The pitching has been keeping us together. Tonight, one hit led to the next one. It was contagious. It was a great night. It’s been a great week.”
Kyle Milburn stays middle third to bring in a run. One out in the second, Spencerport has four in the frame. pic.twitter.com/u9sb05FLtk
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 10, 2023
Streb scored on an RBI-groundout. Daniel Foos followed with a two-run single. Kyle Milburn and Zach Lamberton added a run apiece with base hits before Streb came back around in the order and drove in a run with his second knock of the frame.
Bryon Streb adds to the @SHS_RangerBB hit parade. Rangers have pushed across seven in the inning. pic.twitter.com/W6jtKTHzcL
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 10, 2023
Freville made the big inning stick setting down Gates in order in the bottom half of the stanza.
“It’s just the positive momentum from it,” he said. “Helps me keep a smile on my face and focus on what I do best and that’s put the ball over the plate.”
Freville improved to 2-1 on the season with his first complete-game effort. He allowed five hits and two walks. This coming one day after Lamberton struck out 11 in a complete-game shutout of Greece Arcadia.
Nicholas Freville finishes what he started. Spencerport 14 Gates 2 (final) pic.twitter.com/Okq9rI4lhX
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) May 10, 2023
“He’s a bulldog,” Frisa said of Freville. “He pounds the strike zone. He’s not going to walk four or five guys and get himself in trouble.
“It’s nice to sit back and say, okay we got to figure out how to push three, four, five runs across because we know our pitchers aren’t going to give up in these situations.”
A complete game looked less than realistic when Freville started his day.
“I woke up this morning, and I couldn’t breathe. I had to take allergy medicine and just push through.”
He turned the negative into a positive.
“It really helps me focus on my mechanics. When you have allergies, you’re tired and it forces you to slows things down.”
Streb finished 3-for-3 with a triple and three runs scored to pace the offense. Milburn was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Foos went 2-for-5 with a run. Freville had two hits and a run scored. Andrew Wiebeld drove in three runs with two hits in four at-bats. Lorenzo Tantalo was 2-for-3 with two runs. Bailey Zambuto drove in a run with his first varsity hit and later scored.
Managing just three wins a year ago, Frisa credited the team’s Spring Break trip for the turnaround.
“We went to Florida. We played five scrimmages. We lived with each other for a week. We had fun. Our biggest weapon is our chemistry. These are the best kids I’ve ever coached.”
Gerald Sweeney doubled, tripled and drove in a run for Gates (2-13). Jordan Hoock singled and scored. Cole Gorman and Jeffrey Fisher had a single apiece. Angelo Morales also scored for the Spartans.
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