FL Lake Erie Crushers

Lake Erie rally falls short

Published on August 12, 2009 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


Avon, OH - The Lake Erie Crushers have made it a habit to rally late in ballgames, but their comeback attempt on Wednesday night against Southern Illinois fell just short. Eddie Tisdale slammed a two-run homer in the ninth, but the Miners held on to beat the Crushers by the final of 4-3 at All Pro Freight Stadium.

It was a rare off-night for Lake Erie ace Paul Fagan, who was roughed up for four runs on eight hits in only five innings of work. Fagan suffered just his second loss of the season as his record dropped to 11-2. When asked about his starter's performance afterwards, Skipper John Massarelli said, "Hey it's baseball and he and the rest of our starting pitchers have been what's gotten us turned around lately."

The Miners scored a pair of runs off of Fagan in the first inning as Joey Metropoulos and Brad Miller hit back-to-back RBI doubles. Metropoulos struck again in the third inning as he belted his Frontier League-leading 24th homer of the season to give Southern Illinois a 3-0 advantage. Miners starter Brett Scarpetta on the other hand, kept the Crushers off the board until the fourth inning when Gordon Gronkowski hit an RBI double down the left field line to score Drew Saylor. Southern Illinois went right back to work in the fifth as Tony Roth hit a leadoff homer to left to give the Miners a three run lead once again.

After Fagan departed, Josh Faiola, Ronnie Morales, and Jacinto Gonell combined to throw four scoreless innings to keep the Crushers in the game. Lake Erie loaded the bases with one out in the seventh against the Miners, but reliever Jake McMurran relieved Scarpetta and retired Wayne Bond and pinch hitter Tim Binkoski in order to end the threat. Tisdale's two-run homer in the ninth gave the Crushers some life, but Miners closer Mike Damchuk retired the next three batters to finish the game. The Crushers drop to 43-31 on the season and will finish out their three game series with the Miners on Thursday evening at 7:05. Brent Lysander will make the start against Steve Spurgeon.

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 August 12, 2009


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