Crushers erase five run deficit, take series finale in 12 innings
Published on July 24, 2012 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release
FLORENCE, Ky. - The Lake Erie Crushers scored six times on four hits in the ninth inning of Tuesday night's contest against the Florence Freedom, and rallied back to erase a 6-1 deficit, taking the series finale in 12 innings on J.C. Figueroa's homerun, in an 8-7 victory.
The victory for the Crushers (33-27) snaps a two game slide, and avoided what would have been their first road sweep of the season, while the loss for Florence (31-29), drops their record to 2-4 in games with extra frames.
A rough start set the Crushers back in the first inning. Peter Fatse belted a double to score Junior Arrojo, and David Harris capped the big inning with a three run blast to give the Freedom a 4-0 advantage.
Andrew Davis started the fourth inning with a double, and scored Lake Erie's first run on Daniel Bowman's sacrifice fly. The Freedom answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning, on Arrojo's two out base hit which scored Kyle Bluestein and Edwin Padua.
Florence held that 6-1 lead, until the Crushers erupted for six runs on four hits, and sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the ninth. Adrian Ortiz started the rally with a one out single, and moved to second when Robby Kuzdale walked. Jason Taylor was then hit by an 0-2 pitch to load the bases. Russ Moldenhauer then walked with the bases loaded to bring in the first run, before Matt Kline was replaced by Brennan Flick, who had saved the previous two games.
The Crushers went to work on Flick, registering three hits off the right hander to take the lead. Davis stroked a single to score Kuzdale, and Daniel Bowman followed with a single to plate two more runs. Davis scored the tying run on a wild pitch, and J.C. Figueroa gave the Crushers the lead with a run scoring single to center.
Figueroa would prove to be the hero of the day a few innings later, but it was Fatse who homered in the bottom of the ninth inning off Jonathan Kountis, to tie the game at 7-7, pushing it into extras.
Jorge Marban (1-4) struck out five batters in three innings, and had tossed a pair of hitless innings, before Figueroa smashed his first homerun of the season off the Florence righty, depositing Marban's 0-1 pitch over the wall in right field for the game winner.
Mickey Jannis (1-3) scored the victory for the Crushers, tossing three scoreless innings of two hit relief and fanned five batters in the process. Marban took the loss after allowing just the run on a pair of hits in three innings of work.
Figueroa was one of four Crushers to hit safely multiple times. Ortiz paced Lake Erie with four hits on the night, turning in a 4-for-6 performance, and hit safely seven times in the series. Davis went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs and drove one in, while Brian Erie hit safely twice, going 2-for4 with a pair of base hits. Figueroa didn't start the game, but entered in the fifth inning, and went 2-for-4.
The Crushers are off on Wednesday, but will begin a three game series against the London Rippers at All Pro Freight Stadium with a double header on Thursday afternoon. The first pitch is scheduled for 4:05 PM for game one, and 7:05 PM for game two. The contests are scheduled for seven innings, and tickets are just one dollar.
The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, and 2011 Frontier League Organization of the year, play ball at All Pro Freight Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, Ohio. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 14 teams operating throughout the Midwest. Season tickets for the 2012 season are on sale now! For more information on tickets, promotions and team news, visit the team website at www.LakeErieCrushers.com or call 440-934-3636.
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