2015 Freedom Outlasts Indians for Jacksonville MABL Title

Jacksonville MABL 18+

Freedom 12, Indians 9

‘Stevens Leads the Way on the Bump’

Submitted by Joe Hellett, Jacksonville MABL League President

In the Jacksonville MABL the Freedom defeated the Indians12-9 in a game that featured strong hitting performances on both sides and sloppy, though at times spectacular, defense.

The Freedom opened the scoring with five first inning runs against the Indian’s Tim Johnson. The Indians responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the first inning. The Indians tied the game and went ahead 6-5 in the fourth, only to surrender the lead and go down 7-6 in the fifth.

The Freedom’s MVP pitcher Matt Stevens entered into the game in the fifth and shut the Indians down until they managed to tie the score on a controversial run on a two out rundown play. The Freedom believed that they recorded the out in the field before the runner crossed home, though the umpires disagreed.

In the top of the ninth the Freedom scored five runs off of timely hitting and spectacularly bad defense by the Indians. Matt Stevens gave up two runs in the bottom of the ninth on an error by the Freedom’s right fielder, but held on to gain the win and secured the 2015 Championship, which is the Freedom’s second in five seasons of existence.