FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers Fall In First Half Finale

Published on July 10, 2011 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


O'FALLON, MO. - The Lake Erie Crushers committed five errors during a brutally hot, 95 degree contest on Sunday afternoon at T.R. Hughes Ballpark, and fell to the River City Rascals, 6-2 to put a cap on the first half of the season.

For the Crushers, (21-26) the loss was their fourth of the season against the Rascals, while the win for River City (33-14) gives them the best record in the first half of the season.

The Crushers scored first, in the top of the first inning. Jodam Rivera was hit by an 0-2 pitch, and Patrick Norris bunted him over to second base. Andrew Davis then reached on a base hit, and an error committed by first baseman Joash Broadin allowed Rivera to score from second.

River City responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. Broadin began the inning with a walk, and Chad Maddox belted a double to put runners on second and third. Stephen Holdren and Jareck West then followed with back-to-back RBI singles to give the Rascals the lead.

In the top of the second, Lake Erie tied the contest. Joel Collins and Nick Mahin smacked back-to-back singles to start the frame, and Collins scored the game tying run after Chris Luick reached on a fielder's choice.

Danny Sawyer roped a two out single in the bottom of the fourth inning, and advanced to second base on Davis's error. Bobby Burk then walked, and Landis Wilson drove in the go ahead run on an RBI single.

The Crushers had a chance to tie the game in the top of the fifth inning. Jason Taylor began the inning with a double and advanced to third on Luick's base hit. After a T.J. Baumet was retired, Rivera tried to bunt the tying run home. On the play, Taylor was tagged out between home and third, and Luick was thrown out at third base to complete the inning ending double play. Taylor was ejected from the ballgame, after arguing with home plate umpire Steve Dunahue.

River City then pulled away by scoring three times in the fifth inning. Doug Sanders started the inning with a walk and moved to second after Maddox was hit by a pitch. Holdren then reached on Luick's error at first base, allowing Sanders to score. West reached on a fielder's choice to score Maddox, and West came home later in the inning on Danny Sawyer's base hit.

Paul Fagan (3-6) was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on six hits over four innings of work. Zach Sterner (6-1) held the Lake Erie offense in check, after tossing six strong innings, and allowed just a pair of runs on six hits with two strikeouts in a winning effort.

Kellen Kulbacki paced the Crushers with a 2-for-4 performance, and finished the road trip with nine hits. In addition, he extended his hitting streak to 14 games, and his on base streak to 20. Rivera extended his on base streak to 14 games, while Davis went 1-for-3, extending his on base streak to 18 games, and finished the first half, going 14-for-24 (.583) over his last six games.

Sunday's contest concludes the first half of the 2011 season. The Crushers are off for the next four days, and won't return to action again until they face the Washington Wild Things, on Friday, July 15. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.

The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, play ball at All Pro Freight Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, OH. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 12 teams operating throughout the Midwest. Season tickets for the 2011 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.

Check out the Lake Erie Crushers Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Frontier League Stories from July 10, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central