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FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers Get Back in the Win Column, Edge Washington 4-3

July 23, 2024 - Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


Washington, PA - The Lake Erie Crushers (38-23) waltzed into the home of the Washington Wild Things (39-21) early on Tuesday morning and took the series opener 4-3. The confidence boosting win puts the Crushers just 1.5 games back of first place with two more games left in the series.

Needing to get ahead early, the Crushers got going in the 2nd with an RBI single by DH Sam Franco. After being shut out on Sunday, Lake Erie broke the ice and jumped out to a 1-0 lead.

1B Vincent Byrd Jr. kept the pace in the 4th inning with his 13th homer of the season, extending Lake Erie's lead to 2-0. Byrd reclaims his spot in a tie for third in the Frontier League in long balls.

Washington got a response in the bottom of the 4th with a two-run blast by DH Andrew Czech to tie the game at two. It was the first mistake pitch by LHP Jack Eisenbarger who was making his first start since the All-Star break. Otherwise the Lake Erie all-star was pitching a great game against the top team in the league.

In the top of the 5th, SS Jarrod Watkins continued his tear at the plate with his fourth home run of the season and his second in three games. The crush-job by Watkins gave the Crushers the lead right back 3-2.

Eisenbarger worked into the 6th inning. He walked 3B Tommy Caufield to lead off the inning and then balked him to second base with nobody out. 1B Tyreque Reed cashed in the run with an RBI single up the middle to get the game tied once again, 3-3.

With two outs in the 7th, Lake Erie got a clutch hit from LF Ronald Washington to retake the lead. A bit of a jam-shot off the hands fell into right field and allowed Watkins to score.

RHP Christian Scafidi got the ball in relief of Eisenbarger in the 7th. Eisenbarger exited in line for the win and with a quality start in hand. Scafidi maintained the 4-3 lead by striking out the side in order. Tuesday's game proved that Saturday was truly an anomaly. One would be hard pressed to see three Lake Erie relievers struggling in the same game for the rest of 2024.

In the 8th RHP Sammy Tavarez bounced back with a 1-2-3 inning of his own. Both he and Scafidi responded nicely after uncharacteristic outings over the weekend.

Trevor Kuncl came in for the save in the 9th, but walked the leadoff man. The next batter flew out harmlessly into the right center gap. However, the runner, Carson Clowers, failed to retouch second base and was called out on the play to put two outs on the board. CF Burle Dixon went full on Superman to get the final out of the game on the next pitch, giving the Crushers a meaningful 4-3 win over the Wild Things.

Jack Eisenbarger (6-3) got the win thanks to the great offensive days by Jarrod Watkins (2-for-5 with a HR) and Vincent Byrd Jr. (3-for-4 with a HR).

Final 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

Lake Erie Crushers 0 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 4 11 0

Washington Wild Things 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 3 5 2

The Crushers look to take the series tomorrow, July 24th at 6:05pm EST in Washington.

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