Crushers Drop Opener in Washington
June 18, 2021 - Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release
AVON, Ohio - The Lake Erie Crushers opened a weekend series at the Washington Wild Things Friday night with a 5-2 loss. Lake Erie tallied nine hits in the defeat, showing that the offense is starting to become more threatening.
The Crushers (9-12) turned to righty Tyson Cronin for the start in the opener. Cronin lasted 5 1/3 innings, where he surrendered five runs on eight hits accompanied by five strikeouts.
Both squads were up to the task on the defensive end out of the gate. No runs would register until the bottom of the third inning. Then, Washington's first baseman Andrew Czech tarnished the scoreless contest on a double, allowing Andrew Sohn to reach home safely.
In their next opportunity at the plate in the fourth inning, Washington would deliver two more runs. An RBI single off the bat of Hector Roa initiated the offense in the half-inning. Roa would eventually score courtesy of a Sohn double.
The task was getting taller for the visiting Lake Erie club, but it would battle back on the scoreboard. Isaac Benard was the first man to cross home for the Crushers in the game. That run was chalked as unearned due to an error on Sohn's behalf. General McArthur paved the path for Connor Oliver to score on a single. That diminished the deficit to 3-2.
Roa would not be finished using his lumber for the evening. The Wild Things right fielder smashed a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, extending the Washington lead to 5-2.
The scoring alleviated after the sixth inning of play. Taylor Sugg and Paul Perez received work in relief of Cronin as the two relievers allowed no runs on a measly two hits through 2 2/3 innings.
Cronin's counterpart Ryan Hennen turned in another spectacular performance on the rubber. The Wild Things left-hander advanced to 3-0 on the season with five solid innings of work. He matched Cronin in the strikeout category with five but only allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits.
Seven of the nine batters for Lake Erie recorded a hit on the night. However, the Crushers were unable to capitalize on multiple opportunities to push more runners across the plate.
Zach Strecker was awarded his fourth save of the 2021 campaign by shutting down the Crushers in the ninth.
The series-opening win advances Washington to 10-11 overall this season. Game two of the three-game set at Wild Things Park is scheduled for a 7:05 first pitch on Saturday.
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