FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers Sweep Greys

Published on September 1, 2013 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


AVON, Ohio. -- A late Lake Erie Crushers rally capped a weekend sweep, as Lake Erie plated three runs in the ninth inning of Sunday's contest at All Pro Freight Stadium, as they defeated the Frontier Greys, 4-3.

The victory for the Crushers (54-38) kept them in a first place tie with the Traverse City Beach Bums in the Frontier League's Eastern Division. The loss for the Greys (30-62) was their ninth in their last 10 games.

Lake Erie capitalized on a pair of Frontier errors in the home half of the ninth inning, and scored a trio of runs on just two hits to complete their come from behind victory.

The Greys took an early advantage in the top of the first inning. The game began with a walk issued to Alvaro Ramirez, and he scored moments later on Brock McCallister's RBI double. Two batters later, McCallister came home on Mark Micowski's single.

Lake Erie cut the 2-0 deficit in half in the bottom of the third. Craig Hertler was hit by a pitch at the beginning of the inning, and made his way to second on Seth Granger's base hit. Daniel Bowman then rolled a single in to right field, scoring Hertler in the process.

The Greys added another run in the top of the fifth. Michael Allen and Ramirez hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. McCallister then walked to load the bases. Eric Avila then flew out to center. Allen scored on the play, but he left third too early, and was called out on an appeal. Micowski followed with a run scoring single to give the Greys a 3-1 lead.

The ninth inning was extraordinarily bizarre. It started with Anderson Hidalgo reaching on Eric Avila's fielding error at third. Juan Sanchez followed with a base hit. Kevin Berard dropped a sacrifice bunt down to push both runners in scoring position. Vincent Mejia then pinch hit and grounded out to first to score the first run of the inning.

With a runner on third and two outs, the game appeared as though it was over, when Craig Hertler hit a routine ground ball to second base. Ryan Kiesel could not handle the grounder, and the error allowed Hertler to reach, and the tying run to score. Granger was then intentionally walked, and Bowman drove in the game winner on a single to right field.

Jordan Wellander (3-2) tossed two scoreless innings of no-hit relief and struck out two to score the victory, while Ryan Wooley (2-2) took a hard luck loss, allowing three unearned runs on two hits over two-thirds of the ninth inning.

Lake Erie won the game, despite being out-hit, 9-5. Bowman led the charge for the Lake Erie offense, going 2-for-5 with a pair of runs driven in. Hidalgo and Sanchez were the only other Crushers to hit safely in the contest.

The Crushers are off on Monday, but will begin a three-game series against the Traverse City Beach Bums at All Pro Freight Stadium on Tuesday night. Right-hander Alex Kaminsky (7-5, 3.42) will start for the Crushers and the Beach Bums will counter with right-hander Johnny Omahen(8-9, 3.55). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, and 2011 Frontier League Organization of the year, play ball at All Pro Freight Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, Ohio. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 14 teams operating throughout the Midwest. Season tickets for the 2013 season 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 September 1, 2013


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