FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers Drop Opener to Kings

Published on July 26, 2009 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


Avon, OH - The top two teams in the Frontier League's East Division met on Sunday in the opener of a key three game series. Kalamazoo used a pair of homers by second baseman Joe Ramos to top Lake Erie by the final of 9-6.

The Crushers started off well in the first inning, scoring a pair of runs on back-to-back RBI singles by outfielders Tim Binkoski and Tyler Johnson. Johnson's single was his first hit and first run driven in as a member of the Crushers. In the third inning, Ramos blasted a three run homer to right-center field to give the Kings a 3-2 lead over the Crushers. Kalamazoo kept the pressure on Lake Erie starter Chris Rigo in the inning as Destan Makonnen followed with a two-run triple to put the Kings up 5-2. "Walks really hurt Chris in that inning," said Lake Erie Manager John Massarelli. "We gave three free passes and two scored."

Lake Erie tied the game in the fourth inning on a two-run triple by Jodam Rivera and a run scoring groundout by Drew Saylor but the game would not stay tied for long. In the fifth inning, Kalamazoo catcher Jett Ruiz hit a sacrifice fly to put the Kings back in the lead at 6-5. They would score again in the seventh, as an error by Andrew Davis scored Brendan Murphy with two outs. Eddie Tisdale struck back in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out RBI single to score Binkoski and bring the Crushers to within one.

But in the eighth inning, Ramos would again go deep as he hit a two-run shot off of J.J. Pacella to increase Kalamazoo's lead to three. The Kings bullpen did the rest as Andre Benjamin picked up the win in relief while Tommy Mejia earned his 11th save of the season. Rigo took the loss for Lake Erie as his record falls to 1-1.

The Crushers drop to 32-25 on the season and will continue their three game series with the Kings on Monday night at 7:05. Jorge Charry will get the start for Lake Erie against Kalamazoo's Carson Bryant.

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Frontier League Stories from July 26, 2009


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