Media release from the Rome Emperors:
The Rome Emperors season came to an end on Thursday night at the hands of the Bowling Green Hot Rods, as they sweep the South Atlantic League Division series.
Atlanta’s number seven overall prospect JR Ritchie would get the ball from Emperors skipper Cody Gabella with the season on the line, marking his third start as an Emperor, his second in Rome, and his first in the postseason.
Ritchie would work a clean frame before running into early trouble in the top half of the second as Ritchie put Hot Rod runners on the corners with a walk and a base hit. A sacrifice fly to shallow right from Hunter Haas would plate the first run of the night for Bowling Green, as Noah Myers would come across to score.
Bowling Green would hold the one run lead until the home half of the third inning when Joe Olsavsky would lead off the frame with a double. Jacob Godman would advance Olsavsky to third with a follow-up single, and a Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. ground-out would allow Olsavsky to score Rome’s first run.
Ritchie would call it a night after five frames of work. In his first playoff start, the young right-hander would record four strikeouts while giving up three runs on five hits.
Bowling Green would score four total runs on Thursday night, but would only need two as Rome’s offense once again is only able to muster up one run in a postseason game. The Emperors would leave six runners on base, going a combined two for eleven with runners in scoring position. The Rome franchise has not scored more than three runs in a playoff game since September 16th, 2016 when they won the South Atlantic League title over the Lakewood Blue Claws.
The four run to one loss is Rome’s fourth straight playoff loss, all of which coming at the hands of the Bowling Green Hot Rods, being outscored a combined twenty-four to four.
The Rome Emperors will open up the 2025 campaign on April 4th, 2025 against the Winston-Salem Dash.
