Crushers Hang on to Beat Washington
Published on August 4, 2009 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release
Washington, PA - The Lake Erie Crushers staged a furious rally in the top of the ninth to take the lead against the Washington Wild Things, and then had to hold on for dear life as Lake Erie captured the game by the final of 6-5.
Lake Erie scored four times in the 9th to erase a 3-2 deficit as Jodam Rivera hit a two-run double and Drew Saylor added a two-run single to put the Crushers ahead 6-3. Jacinto Gonell got the first out for Lake Erie in the bottom of the ninth, but then a single, an error, and two walks gave Washington life again. After two were out and the Wild Things scored a second run on a fielder's choice, J.J. Pacella came on to strike out Jacob Dempsey to end the game and give the Crushers their third win in a row.
"It just goes to show that as long as we string along quality at-bats, we can always go out there and find a way to win," said Saylor afterwards. "It may have not have been pretty especially in the bottom of the ninth but good teams go out and find ways to win."
The Crushers fell behind 1-0 early on but tied the game in the fourth on an RBI double by Wayne Bond. Washington took a 2-1 lead into the eighth inning, but Saylor scored with two outs on a runs scoring single by Gordon Gronkowski. The Wild Things responded with a two-out, solo homer by Jacob Dempsey off of Ronnie Morales to take a 3-2 lead into the ninth. The home run was the only mistake made by Morales, who pitched two-and two-thirds innings with six strikeouts to earn his first win with the Crushers. "Morales was dominating for us tonight," said Crushers manager John Massarelli. "It's really going to help us if we see more of those kind of performances from him."
The Crushers are now 38-28 on the season and have moved to within two games of Kalamazoo for first place in the Frontier League's East Division. The Crushers will continue their three game series with the Wild Things on Wednesday night at 7:05 as Cardoza Tucker will start against Jason Neitz.
Frontier League Stories from August 4, 2009
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- Grizzlies Drop Third Straight - Gateway Grizzlies
- ThunderBolts Pound Grizzlies - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Wild Things Lose in Ninth - Washington Wild Things
- Crushers Hang on to Beat Washington - Lake Erie Crushers
- Muller, Romans to DL; Mateo, McKenzie activated - Rockford RiverHawks
- Freedom's Tuesday Night Game Washed Out - Florence Y'alls
- Nearly $10,000 Donated in Beach Bums' Homestand, More to Come - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Otters Can't Complete Sweep - Evansville Otters
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