FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers drop back-and-forth battle

Published on July 24, 2014 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


NORMAL, Ill. -- The Lake Erie Crushers saw a pair of leads disappear on Thursday night at the Corn Crib, as the Normal Cornbelters defeated the Crushers on a walk off RBI double, taking the opening game of the series, 5-4.

The loss for the Crushers (31-27) marked their third in their last four games on the road, while the victory for the Cornbelters (28-29) snapped a three-game losing streak.

Most of the scoring was done in the final three innings of the contest, as the lead changed hands four times on the evening.

The game began with Juan Sanchez hitting his second homerun in as many days, giving him two on the season. The Crushers would record two more hits over the next two innings, before going hitless until the eighth.

Normal squandered a few chances to score before capitalizing with a pair of runs to take their first lead of the game in the seventh. Richard Lucas started the seventh inning with a single, and Ozney Guillen followed with a base hit to right field. Adam Ford's throw from right to third base ended up in the third base dugout. The errant throw scored Lucas to tie the game and put Guillen on third. Two batters later, Santiago Chirino belted a RBI double down the left field line to score Guillen.

Lake Erie answered quickly with a trio of runs on three hits in the top of the eighth inning. Joey Burney walked to start the inning, and scored the game tying run on Sanchez's one out double down the line in right. Craig Hertler followed with a single to right, plating Sanchez to give the Crushers the lead again, before Anderson Hidalgo stroked a two-out RBI single to center to give Lake Erie a 4-2 advantage.

The two-run lead didn't last long, as the Conrbelters scored twice in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game again. Mike Schwartz reached on an infield single, and two batters later, with two out, Aaron Dudley hit a towering two-run homer over the wall in right, to tie the game at 4-4.

Lake Erie had a chance to take the lead again in the top of the ninth. Vince Mejia started the inning with a single through the right side, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He made his way to third on Ford's groundout, but the Crushers could not bring him in.

The Cornbelters won it in the bottom of the ninth, as the bottom of the order went to work. Pat McKenna belted a triple off the wall in left center field, and he scored the game winning run moments later on Eric Anderson's walk off single off the wall in right.

Chris Carmain (1-0) kept the Crushers off the board in the top of the ninth inning and earned his first victory of the season, while Jason Wilson (6-3) allowed two runs on three hits over an inning of action and took the loss.

Three Crushers hit safely multiple times on the night, as Sanchez, Hertler and Mejia all turned in 2-for-4 performances. Sanchez scored twice and drove in two, while increasing his hitting streak to nine games. Hertler had a pair of singles, and has now reached in 11 straight games, while Mejia had two singles, and has hit safely multiple times in five of his last six games.

The Crushers will continue their three game series against the Normal Cornbelters at the Corn Crib on Friday night. Righty Mickey Jannis (2-4, 4.70) will throw for the Crushers, and the Cornbelters will counter with right hander Corey MacDonald (3-1, 4.74). The first pitch is scheduled for 8:00 PM.

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Frontier League Stories from July 24, 2014


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