Friday, August 15, 2008

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - To most of the 3,183 fans at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville on Tuesday night, the Montgomery Biscuits' 9-6 victory over the Suns was just another Southern League baseball game.

But for some fans in the stands and one relief pitcher, the game was something special. As Biscuits pitcher Neal Frontz described it, "I'm living the dream, and I love it."

The Biscuits' visit to the Baseball Grounds marked Frontz's first return to the city, where he graduated from Trinity Christian in 2002 and pitched for Jacksonville University in 2005. Tuesday's outing came in front of 137 family members, friends and friends of family members.

"And that was just tickets I was able to round up for people for tonight's game," Frontz said with a laugh. "Those include some of my dad's friends I don't even know. That was for tonight, and I've got four more games in this series in which to get more tickets."

Montgomery has used Frontz primarily as a closer, so he didn't expect to pitch when his team took a 9-2 lead after six innings. But the Suns (20-31 second half, 53-68 overall) added four more runs in the seventh and put their first two batters on base in the eighth, so the Biscuits (30-20, 64-56) called for Frontz to save the day. He responded by striking out the first batter, retiring the second on a sacrifice bunt and striking out the third to stop the Suns' threat.

Story By Jeff Elliott
The Times Union