FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers' rally falls short

Published on July 11, 2009 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


Avon, OH - The Lake Erie Crushers dug themselves into an 6-0 hole against the River City Rascals on Saturday night, but refused to be buried as they made a furious comeback. In the end, it would not be enough as the Rascals went on to post a 6-4 victory at All Pro Freight Stadium on Saturday night.

The comeback started in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Crushers would load the bases with nobody out. Andrew Davis drew a bases-loaded walk and Gordon Gronkowski would hit an RBI fielder's choice to make it 6-2. Gronkowski struck again in the eighth inning as he blasted his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot, over the fence in center to bring the Crushers to within two. Lake Erie would put the tying runs on later in the inning, but River City closer Jason Lowey got the final out to keep the Rascals ahead by two in the ninth.

The Crushers would put pressure on Lowey in the ninth as Jodam Rivera and Drew Saylor reached on a pair of one-out singles. With two outs, Luke Hetherington walked, but Lowey came back to strike out Gronkowski to end the game. Lowey picked up his Frontier League-leading 12th save in the process.

River City scored single runs in the second and fifth innings against Kevin Skogley and would take command of the game in the sixth as Chris Colton's two-run single keyed a four run inning. Josh Lowey worked six innings to get his third win of the season for the Rascals while Skogley's record drops to 3-2. Skogley left the game in the sixth with an apparent arm injury although Crushers Manager John Massarelli did not know any details afterwards. Despite the loss, Massarelli was pleased with his team's effort. "These guys played their hearts out for nine innings. That's what we demand as coaches from them and that's what they expect from themselves."

Lake Erie falls to 25-21 on the season and have lost three in a row and four of their last five games. They'll finish up the series and the first half of the season against River City on Sunday at 5:05.

The Lake Erie Crushers are the newest expansion team in the Frontier League, an independent professional league with 12 teams throughout the Midwest. The team plays its home games at All Pro Freight Stadium, the new 5,000 capacity ballpark located at the intersection of I-90 and Route 611 in Avon. Season tickets and Mini-plans 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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Frontier League Stories from July 11, 2009


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