LAKE ERIE CRUSHERS OFFENSE CRUSHES FOR A WALK OFF WIN
The Lake Erie Crushers scored their first walk off win of the season at Mercy Health Stadium on Thursday afternoon, as they took the series finale from the Empire State Greys in a 2-1 victory. Lake Erie took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third. Brendon Dadson started a two out rally with a single and moved to second on Jack Harris's base hit through the left side of the infield. Vince Byrd Jr. smashed the next pitch down the right field line for a RBI double to score Dadson. In the bottom of the ninth, Kenen Irizarry started the inning with a four pitch walk. Lake Erie then executed a hit and run, as Santiago Chirino poked a single in to right field and advanced Irizarry to third. Dadson then hit a ground ball to third, but JR DiSarcina's throw to home plated bounced to the backstop, allowing Irizarry to score the game winning run.
Schaumburg Boomers received strong pitching and led the entire way to topple the Gateway Grizzlies 4-1 and finish the first roadtrip of the season with a 3-3 record.Gaige Howard led off the second inning with a double and came home on a groundout from Kyle Fitzgerald to put the Boomers ahead. The early run provided the reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Week Luis Perez with enough support early. Perez faced the minimum through the first five innings and ended up working seven innings to nab his first win of the season, striking out five. The Boomers pushed the lead to 3-0 with a pair of two-out runs in the seventh. Brett Milazzosmacked an opposite field double to score Alec Craig and Chase Dawson drove home a run with an infield single. Gateway scored their lone run in the bottom of the inning but the Boomers extended the lead to 4-1 in the eighth on an RBI bunt single from Craig. Schaumburg finished with seven hits in the game. Howard and Craig tallied two apiece. Jake Joyceworked the eighth and flame thrower Merfy Andrew slammed the door shut in the ninth to tally his first save.
Joliet won the last game of the series against the Y'alls. Joliet plated its first run in the first inning on back-to-back ground rule doubles from designated hitter Matt Feinstein and first baseman Matthew Warkentin against Florence starter Mike Kickham. Kickham pitched three innings in the game and allowed four hits and one run. The Slammers increased their lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning against Florence right-handed reliever Carter Poiry. A two-run double off the bat of Joliet shortstop Tyler Depreta-Johnson drove home third baseman Will Salas and second baseman Matt McGarry. Joliet didn't need any more offense behind starting pitcher Cole Cook, who dominated through seven strong innings. The southpaw allowed just one run on six hits and struck out ten Florence hitters. Florence's lone run came in the fifth inning when left fielder Cole Brannen doubled to drive in center fielder Marcos Castillo from first base.
In what was a tight game for six and a half innings on Thursday night turned into a rout, as the Sussex County Miners put seven runs up against the Tri-City ValleyCats bullpen in the seventh and eighth innings to run away with a 9-2 win at Skylands Stadium to sweep the three game series and run their win streak to five consecutive games. The bottom of the seventh would be where the Miners broke the game open. Edwin Mateo would lead off by drawing a walk from ValleyCat reliever Brac Warren, then advanced to second on a stolen base, and then to third when Jakob Goldfarb's throw slipped into centerfield. The extra base wouldn't matter, as Will Zimmerman would bring him home with an RBI triple to give the Miners the lead 3-2. It was Zimmerman's third RBI in the last two games. Then three batters later, Jawuan Harris would knock Zimmerman home with an RBI single to push the Miners advantage to 4-2. Jackson Valera would reach on an error by the third baseman, and Santana would get his second RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly, knocking home Jason Agresti who had walked earlier to make it 5-2. Harris would then advance to third on a wild pitch, and score on an errant throw by Goldfarb to push the Miner advantage to 6-2. Sussex County would tack on three more runs in the eighth inning on three hits and three walks to stretch their lead to what would end up being the 9-2 final score. Parsons would pitch the final three innings for the Miners in picking up the win, allowing just one other hit outside of the Biermann home run. Warren would take the loss for Tri-City, who have now dropped four consecutive games.
The Otters fought hard to take the win over the Ottawa Titans. Larson and Otters starter Tim Holdgrafer (win, 1-1) went toe-to-toe posting respective six-inning performances. Larson would go six-plus and allow two runs on six hits, issuing no walks, and striking out four in the loss. Holdgrafer would go six shutout frames and allow four hits, walking one, and striking out one for the win. George Callil broke the scoreless tie with a leadoff solo homer in the bottom of the third off Larson, proving to be the winning run in the series finale.
