Kings battle back to tie series
September 9, 2009 - Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release
Kalamazoo, MI-The Kalamazoo Kings battled back from a 4-0 deficit, hitting four home runs and scoring 10 unanswered runs to beat the Lake Erie Crushers by the final of 10-4. The victory by the Kings ties the best-of-five Frontier League Divisional Series at a game apiece heading into Friday's game three at All Pro Freight Stadium in Avon.
The Crushers picked up where they left off on Tuesday night, scoring three times in the first inning on a three-run double by Eddie Tisdale off of Joe DiPietro to take a 3-0 lead after one. DiPietro was knocked out of the game by a line drive off the bat of Arden McWilliams that ricocheted off of the right-hander's leg. In place of DiPietro, the Kalamazoo bullpen combined to throw eight and a third innings, allowing just a run on three hits. The lone run came on an error by Kings third baseman Amos Ramon that allowed Tisdale to score in the third inning.
Kalamazoo would start their comeback in the third inning with a two-run homer by Joe Ramos off of Paul Fagan. Brendan Murphy pulled the Kings to within one in the fourth with an RBI double. In the fifth, Kalamazoo would take command of the game as Ramos again went deep off of Fagan with a solo blast to left. After the next two men reached against Fagan, Josh Faiola relieved and promptly gave up a three run homer to Matt Maloney to give the Kings a 7-4 lead.
The Kings added two in the sixth on a two-run homer by Josh Short and then closed out the scoring in the seventh as Jett Ruiz scored on a throwing error by Crushers catcher Kylee Hash. Scott Reid pitched three and a third scoreless innings to earn the victory, while Tommy Mejia pitched the final three innings for the save. Fagan allowed five earned runs on seven hits to take the loss.
"Paul just didn't pitch well enough for us to win tonight," said Crushers Manager John Massarelli afterwards. "The bottom line is the game's over, we lost and we'll come back on Friday and try to pick up a win."
The Crushers will send right-hander Brent Lysander to the mound against Kalamazoo's Bernard Robert in game three. First pitch at All Pro Freight Stadium is set for 7:05 P.M.
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.
Frontier League Stories from September 9, 2009
- Rascals Take 2-0 Series Lead With Another Walk-Off Win - River City Rascals
- Kings Knot Series with 10-4 Win - Kalamazoo Kings
- Kings battle back to tie series - Lake Erie Crushers
- Bolts put in must win situation - Windy City ThunderBolts
- RiverHawks' "Franchise" player returns - Rockford RiverHawks
- Koopmann to manage RiverHawks in 2010 - Rockford RiverHawks
- 2009 End of Season Notes - Rockford RiverHawks
- River City Rascals Events - River City Rascals
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