Crushers Live up to Their Name in 16-6 Win over Mississippi
FL Mississippi Mud Monsters

Crushers Live up to Their Name in 16-6 Win over Mississippi

Published on May 17, 2026 under Frontier League (FL)
Mississippi Mud Monsters News Release


AVON, Ohio. - After winning their first game in Avon yesterday, nine free passes and five longballs against the Mississippi Mud Monsters (4-5) produced a 16-6 final in favor of the Lake Erie Crushers (4-5).

Brenton Thiels made his second start of the season for Mississippi, but Lake Erie capitalized on control issues from the right-hander.

After Mississippi took the lead in the first inning on a wild pitch from Lake Erie starter Nathan Shinn, Thiels looked sharp early, tossing a 1-2-3 opening frame that included a strikeout of Crushers leadoff hitter Pavin Parks.

There was some turbulence in the second inning as a leadoff walk to Alfredo Gonzalez started the frame before a groundout pushed him to second base. Garrett Pike then drove Gonzalez home with a single to tie the game at 1-1.

Thiels escaped the inning allowing just the one run, but Lake Erie batted around in the third. The frame began with a walk to Parks followed by a single from Joe Redfield and a one-out walk to Samuel Benjamin to load the bases.

Pitching coach Kurt Takahashi made his way to the mound to calm the 7-foot right-hander down, but the first pitch following the visit hit Jacob Tobias to bring home the first run of the inning. Pike followed with his second RBI single in as many innings to make it 3-1.

Derek Vegas then added a two-run double before a sacrifice fly brought home another run for the inning's second out. With two outs, a walk to Bryce Hayman put two aboard for Parks, who delivered an RBI single. A wild pitch to the next batter brought home another run and, before Mississippi could record the final out, Lake Erie had built an 8-1 lead.

Thiels finished his outing allowing eight runs on two hits while walking five and hitting one batter.

Shinn silenced the Mud Monsters bats in the top of the fourth while Tristan House entered out of the bullpen for Mississippi in the bottom half of the inning.

Lake Erie greeted House with a solo home run on his very first offering as Benjamin left the yard. House then walked a batter, recorded the inning's first out on a flyout, and surrendered a single to put runners on the corners.

Vegas followed with the second Lake Erie home run of the inning, a three-run shot that extended the Crushers lead to 12-1.

The Mud Monsters offense finally broke through against Shinn in the fifth inning after the Lake Erie southpaw hit Nathan Rose with a pitch before Slater Schield ripped an RBI triple into right-center field one batter later.

Brayland Skinner followed with a productive groundout to score Schield and cut the deficit to 12-3.

Dusty Baird, making his second bullpen appearance in as many games, held the Crushers scoreless in both the fifth and sixth innings, but Shinn continued to keep Mississippi quiet offensively.

Connor Langrell took over in the seventh and quickly retired the first two batters of the inning by striking out Joe Redfield looking and getting Luis Acevedo to fly out. Langrell then issued his first walk of the season before surrendering a two-run home run to Jacob Tobias to put the Crushers up two touchdowns to a field goal at 14-3.

Mississippi infielder AJ Fritz entered for his third pitching appearance of the week and alternated between recording outs and surrendering solo home runs. After getting Vegas to line out for the inning's first out, Fritz allowed a solo homer to pinch hitter Jaidan Quinn before retiring Hayman on a groundout. Parks then added another solo shot to make it 16-3. Fritz later allowed back-to-back singles before striking out Benjamin to end the inning.

Down to their final chance to extend their streak of scoring five or more runs and with Kyle Booker's 16-game hitting streak on the line, the Mud Monsters showed some late life in the ninth inning.

Brandyn Sittinger entered out of the Lake Erie bullpen looking to close out the game, but after Schield collected his third hit of the afternoon, Booker launched a one-out two-run homer to make it 16-5 and extend his multi-season hitting streak to 17 games.

Travis Holt followed with a single before Samil De La Rosa, who entered as a pinch hitter for Jack Holman in the sixth inning, reached on an error. Landon Wallace, who also entered in the sixth, picked up his first hit for Mississippi to load the bases. Nathan Rose then collected an RBI single before Lake Erie finally finished off the Mud Monsters.

After dropping both the game and series to Lake Erie, the Mud Monsters now sit halfway through their 12-game road trip. After an off day tomorrow, Mississippi heads to Crestwood, Illinois for a three-game series against the Windy City ThunderBolts, with all three games scheduled for 10:35 a.m. CT first pitches. As of writing, no starting pitchers have been announced for either side.

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Frontier League Stories from May 17, 2026


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