Windy City D. Lake Erie Crushers, 7-4
Published on May 31, 2017 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release
AVON, Ohio -- The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy, saw a late rally fall short on Wednesday evening, as they lost the final game of the series to the Windy City Thunderbolts, 7-4 at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium.
The loss for the Crushers (7-11) was their fifth in their last six games, while the victory for the Thunderbolts (12-6) marked their sixth in their last seven games.
The Crushers were able to fire the first shot for the third night in a row. Parker Norris started the bottom of the first inning with a double to right. He advanced to third on Jordan Dean's groundout, and came around to score the game's first run on Cody Lenehan's RBI groundout.
Windy City tied the game with two outs in the top of the third. David Kerian was hit by a pitch to start the inning, moved to second on a groundout from Andrew Dundon, and scored the game tying run on Keenyn Walker's two-out RBI single to right.
The Thunderbolts then took advantage of a trio of hits and an error to score a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning to take a 3-1 lead. Blair Beck started the inning with a single to left and stole second base, before scoring on a RBI single from Tim Zier. Larry Balkwill followed with a single to left, moving Zier to third in the process. The next batter, Kerian, reached on an errant throw from Lenehan at third, which allowed Zier to score.
Windy City added another in the eighth and put the game away with three more in the ninth. Zier struck again with a RBI single in the eighth, and the T-Bolts scored three times on four hits in the ninth. Walker drove in his second run of the game with a RBI double to right center and scored on Kyle Wood's run scoring single before Beck plated Coco Johnson on a RBI single to center.
The Crushers plated a trio of runs without recording a hit in the bottom of the ninth. Walks were issued to Sean Hurley and Connor Oliver to start the inning, and Connor Hofmann reached on an error with one out to load the bases. Tanner Lubach walked with the bases loaded to plate the first run, before a balk brought Oliver home. Later in the inning, Norris reached on a fielder's choice to plate Hofmann, bringing the tying run to the plate, but the rally stalled after Jordan Dean grounded out to end the game.
Brady Muller (3-1) scored the victory for Windy City, allowing just a run on three hits while fanning six batters over seven innings of work. Brian Loconsole (7) pitched the final two-thirds of the ninth inning to grab the save. Adam Quintana (2-2) took the loss for the Crushers after allowing a trio of runs, two earned on eight hits with five strikeouts over six innings of action.
The Crushers are off on Thursday but will hit the road and begin a three-game series with the Joliet Slammers at Slammers Stadium on Friday night. Left-hander Connor Reed (1-2, 3.31) will make the start for the Crushers. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM.
The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, and 2011 Frontier League Organization of the year, play ball at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, Ohio. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 12 teams operating throughout the Midwest. 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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