FL Lake Erie Crushers

Aviators outlast Crushers Crushers fall in five hour marathon

Published on June 16, 2013 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


ROCKFORD, Ill. -- The Lake Erie Crushers saw multiple leads disappear on Saturday night, as they fell to the Rockford Aviators, 18-17, in a 13-inning marathon that lasted five hours.

The Crushers (10-16) have now lost five out of their last six games, while the win for the Aviators (6-19) marked the first time this season that they've won games consecutively this season.

Lake Erie set season highs with 17 runs, and 21 hits, and held two separate leads late in the game. They led by two (14-12) heading into the bottom of the ninth, and led 17-14 going into the bottom of the 12th inning, but Rockford answered every call.

Lake Erie was down 4-1 after three innings, before scoring six times on four hits to take the lead in the top of the fourth. Emmanuel Quiles walked with the bases loaded to score the first run, and Seth Granger followed with a run scoring single. Ricardo Lizcano then gave Lake Erie the lead on a two-run base hit, and the Crushers added two more on both Juan Sanchez's RBI groundout, and Max Casper's two out single.

Lake Erie added single runs in the fifth, and the sixth, before plating two more runs in the seventh inning to take an 11-5 advantage heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Rockford responded with a seven run seventh inning to regain the lead. A wild pitch plated Michael Hur who started the inning with a double, and Ted Obregon brought in the next run on a base hit. Former Crusher Jereme Milons stroked a two run single, before Eric Bainer doubled in the next two runs, and scored the go ahead run on Matt Greener's RBI single.

Lake Erie tied the game in the eighth inning when Kevin Berard scored on Russ Moldenhauer's sacrifice fly, and the Crushers plated two more in the ninth to regain the lead. Andrew Davis started the ninth inning with his second homer of the night, his sixth of the season to give the Crushers a 13-12 advantage. Sanchez added to the lead later in the inning on a single to score Quiles.

The lead was not large enough to keep the Aviators from forcing extra innings, as they scored two times, while recording just one hit in the bottom of the ninth. Milons walked to start the inning, and Bainer was hit by a pitch, which set up Greener's RBI single to cut the lead to one (14-13). Hur then tied the game with a sacrifice fly. The Aviators had the bases loaded with one out, when Evan Button lined into a double play to end the inning.

The two teams exchanged a pair of scoreless frames, until the Crushers struck again in the 12th inning. Moldenhauer and Quiles both singled in the inning, and Anderson Hidalgo came through with a pinch hit, three-run homer, his first of the year to give the Crushers a 17-14 advantage.

The lead would not hold, as the Aviators plated three runs on a pair of hits in the bottom of the inning. Ray Hernandez began the inning with a single, and he touched home plate along with Button on Ray Delvalle's double. Delvalle scored the game tying run on a two-out single from Milons.

In the 13th, Greener walked to begin the inning, and scored on the next pitch, when Hur stroked a double to right center field to end the game.

Dave Middendorf (3-2) made his first relief appearance since May 18, and took the loss after allowing the game winning hit to Hur. Hur and Greener were the only batters he faced. Nick Cicio (1-1) scored the victory, after allowing three runs on four hits over two innings of relief.

Both teams combined to use 15 pitchers in the contest, while they tallied a combined 35 runs, on 38 hits.

Lake Erie had six players hit safely twice or more on the night, and Quiles led the way with a 4-for-6 performance, while scoring three times and he drove in a pair of runs as well. Casper, Bowman and Moldenhauer all contributed with three hit performances on the night, while Davis and Sanchez each hit safely twice. Davis's two-homerun performance was Lake Erie's second of the year, and the three-time Frontier League All-Star has now hit safely in 16 straight games.

The Crushers will finsh their three game series against the Rockford Aviators at Aviator Stadium on Sunday evening. The Crushers will start right hander Alex Kaminsky (0-1, 5.14) and the Aviators will start left hander Jon Gulbransen (1-1, 3.60). First pitch is scheduled for 5:05 PM.

Check out the Lake Erie Crushers Statistics

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Frontier League Stories from June 16, 2013


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