Grand slam carries Crushers to series sweep
July 25, 2009 - Frontier League (FL)
Florence Y'alls News Release
AVON, OH - For the third straight night the Florence Freedom couldn't avoid the big inning as the Lake Erie Crushers put up six in the third and went on to finish off the sweep with a 10-4 win.
Jonathan Miller came into the start tossing his first career complete game shutout last time out against the Evansville Otters and retired the first seven Crushers he faced. That's where the success ended for the right-hander.
With one out, six straight Crushers reached with Gordon Gronkowski capping it off with the franchise's first grand slam, giving Lake Erie a 6-3 lead. Jay Johnson jumped at the wall in right, but the ball tipped off his mit and landed over for the home run.
The Freedom built a three run lead early with an two-out RBI single by Billy Mottram in the first. After an error on Crusher starter Thomas Vassella allowed the second run to score in the second inning, Johnson doubled to center with two outs to make it 3-0 Florence.
Lake Erie would then score the game's next nine runs including three more off Miller in the sixth inning. Miller (2-2) lasted 5 1/3 and allowed nine runs on 10 hits in the loss.
Florence didn't have a hit from the fifth through seventh innings against the Crusher bullpen. Josh Faiola (3-6) was credited with the win retiring all five batters he faced. Faiola appeared at the start of the fifth after Vassella was taken out after the fourth inning.
Mottram, Johnson, Ryan Basham and Erold Andrus accounted for all eight of the Freedom's hits as all four had two apiece. Johnny Welch's 14-game hitting streak came to a close, the infielder went 0-5.
The Crushers outscored the Freedom 30-10 in the series and now hold a 6-3 season series edge. The two won't meet again until September 1 at Champion Window Field.
Florence (27-29) returns back home now to take on the Traverse City Beach Bums Sunday night at Champion Window Field. Game time is set for 6:05 p.m. on a MomsLikeMe.com Family Sunday. For tickets, call the Freedom at (859) 594-HITS or visit FlorenceFreedom.com.
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Frontier League Stories from July 25, 2009
- Bolts Daily Podcast now available on iTunes - Windy City ThunderBolts
- RiverHawks sign new infielder; Cone released - Rockford RiverHawks
- Grand slam carries Crushers to series sweep - Florence Y'alls
- Washington Dumps Coal into Traverse City's Christmas Stockings - Washington Wild Things
- Kings Take Series; Manager Sets Frontier League Record - Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti
- Bolts sweep Rascals - Windy City ThunderBolts
- Bums drop series - Traverse City Beach Bums
- Otters avoid sweep - Gateway Grizzlies
- Crushers slam Freedom - Lake Erie Crushers
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