FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers rally to a win

Published on June 27, 2009 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


Avon, OH - Brad Griffiths' sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh proved to be the difference as the Lake Erie Crushers beat the Traverse City Beach Bums 5-4 at All Pro Freight Stadium on Saturday Night.

The Crushers played from behind most of the night as the Beach Bums went on top 2-0 in the fourth inning on a John Alonso solo homer and an RBI triple by Kyle Maunus. Lake Erie would cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fourth as Gordon Gronkowski slammed his sixth homer of the year to left-center field.

The Beach Bums would score twice more in the fifth inning to grab a 4-1 lead as Alonso struck again with a two-run single. But the Crushers would finally draw even in the bottom of the sixth. Jodam Rivera scored on a ball hit to center by Drew Saylor that was ruled an error. Saylor would go to third on the play and then score on Andrew Davis' RBI groundout to pull Lake Erie to within one run. The next batter, Luke Hetherington, promptly tied the game at four with his fifth home run of the season. "There's no one in that dugout that's panicking when we're down three runs," said Lake Erie Manager John Massarelli.

The Crushers would grab the lead for the first time in the seventh inning as Arden McWilliams led off with a walk. He moved to second on an error, was bunted to third by Wayne Bond, and then scored on Griffiths' sacrifice fly to give Lake Erie the 5-4 edge. "You think about that inning, you've got three rookies in McWilliams, Bond, and Griffiths all stepping up for us to help us win," said Hetherington afterwards.

Shannon Sprouse worked two scoreless innings in relief to pick up his first victory as a member of the Crushers. Jacinto Gonell finished off the ninth for his fifth save of the year.

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 June 27, 2009


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