CRUSHERS BATS SILENCED BY BOOMERS
The Lake Erie Crushers were held to just a pair of hits and had just three base runners all night long as they dropped their series opener to the Schaumburg Boomers, 3-0 on Tuesday night at Mercy Health Stadium. The Crushers (15-19) have now lost three in a row, and five out of their last six overall, while the win for the Boomers (21-12) marks their fourth shutout victory of the season. Schaumburg's starting pitcher Jackson Hickert (3-1) stole the show. Not only did he record a two hit complete game shutout, but he also flirted with perfection, as he retired the first 19 batters he faced. Hickert fanned nine batters and issued just one free pass on a night where he baffled the Lake Erie offense. Jarrod Watkins spoiled Hickert's perfect run when he smacked a one out double down the line in right in the bottom of the seventh. Jiandido Tromp had Lake Erie's only other hit with a two out single in the eighth. All three of Schaumburg's runs came with two outs. Gaige Howard walked to start the top of the third inning. He stole second and came around to score on a two out RBI single to left off the bat of Chase Dawson. Thomas Bruss retired the first two batters he faced in the top of the fourth inning before he walked Alec Craig. Craig stole second and third and scored on Blake Grant-Parks's single to right field. The Boomers added one last run in the top of the ninth. Zach Ruffins reached on a one out single to center before advancing to second on a balk. Dawson struck again as he belted a single to center to plate Ruffins. Darrien Ragins (1-1) took the loss for the Crushers after allowing a run on two hits while walking three and fanning six batters in three innings of work. Sam Frontino delivered a pair of scoreless innings in relief for the Crushers.
The Florence Y'alls (18-16), presented by Towne Properties, began their nine-game homestand with a 6-2 win over the Gateway Grizzlies (20-13) in Tuesday's series opener. The victory snaps the Y'alls' longest losing streak of the season at five games. Neither team scored through two and a half innings of play before the Y'alls broke out of their offensive slump. In the bottom of the third, the Y'alls rallied for three runs. Veteran first baseman Craig Massey led off the inning with a solo home run – his first homer of the year – to make it 1-0 against Gateway starter Zac Ryan. Ryan allowed a single to Florence right fielder Ray Zuberer before allowing a two-run home run to designated hitter Brennan Price. After three innings, the Y'alls led 3-0. Gateway stranded the bases loaded in the fourth before the Y'alls went back to work on offense. Florence tacked on three runs for the second consecutive inning. Back-to-back singles from left fielder Marcos Castillo and center fielder Cole Brannen placed runners at the corners before an error on Gateway second baseman Mark Vierling allowed Castillo to score. Ray Zuberer then doubled in two runners to make it 6-0 Florence. The Y'alls wouldn't need any more run support behind rookie righthander Nate Florence, who dazzled again (7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 K) against the high-scoring Gateway offense. The Grizzlies scored a pair of runs in the seventh inning when right fielder Jairus Richards scored on a wild pitch and Mark Vierling hit a sacrifice fly to score third baseman D.J. Stewart from third base, but Gateway would come no closer. Florence righthander Carter Poiry pitched two innings of scoreless relief to close the game and give the Y'alls a 6-2 victory.
Joliet used a five-run second inning and a great start from righty Andrew Dietz, who faced one over the minimum through seven scoreless fames for his first win of 2023, to take the series opener against Washington in Joliet Tuesday night. The Slammers won the first of the head-to-head series this season 8-0. The homestanding Slammers scored five times in the second inning on an RBI double by Phillip Steering, a two-run single from Tyler Depreta-Johnson, a groundout by Liam McArthur and a run-scoring base hit by Matthew Warkentin. That came against the starter for Washington, Hayden Shenefield, who yielded one more in a three-run sixth that came in while Will Solomon was on the mound. A two-run homer by Warkentin extended Joliet's lead to 8-0, where it ended up being the final. Scotty Dubrule had a fourth-inning single and Jack Cone walked in the ninth. Those were the two baserunners in the loss for the Wild Things.
The Ottawa Titans (14-20) committed a season-high six errors in a 6-3 loss to the Windy City ThunderBolts (13-21) on Tuesday. After a scoreless first, the ThunderBolts pulled ahead in the second and never looked back. With a pair of singles to begin the inning of Zac Westcott (loss, 2-5), Paul Coumoulos' fielder's choice brought home the opening run. A two-out error forced Westcott to continue the third, where he surrendered an RBI single to Peyton Isaacson, seeing the ThunderBolts double their lead. Following two more errors in the fourth, the ThunderBolts were able to push across a p[air of runs and make it 4-0. Westcott would re-take the mound in the fifth and toss a scoreless frame. The veteran righty would get the hook after five, allowing four runs (one earned) on six hits, walking three, and striking out five. The Titans' offence got some life in the bottom of the fifth against right-hander Taylor Suggs (win, 2-1) with a pair of runs on four hits. Jamey Smart brought home Sicnarf Loopstok's lead-off double with an RBI single, then Manny Garcia's ground-rule double plated another run as Jackie Urbaez scored. Suggs would exit after five and allow two runs on eight hits, walking two, and fanning three. With two runs in the seventh and eighth, the ThunderBolts were able to pull away in the series opener against Chris Burica. Austin Marozas would force home a Jamey Smart walk with a wild pitch in the eighth, seeing the Titans make it a 6-3 game. In total, two of the six runs that the Titans allowed on Tuesday went down as earned in the series opener. On the offensive side of the ball, Sicnarf Loopstok went 3-for-5 with a double. It marked the eighth multi-hit performance for Loopstok since joining the club.
The Tri-City ValleyCats (19-15) dropped the series opener 9-2 to the Québec Capitales (17-16) at Stade Canac on Tuesday. The Capitales took a commanding 4-0 lead early in the ballgame. Québec hit a pair of solo homers off Dan Beebe with Kyle Crowl going yard in the first, and Sam Abbott hitting a roundtripper in the second. The Capitales brought in two runs in the third. Marc-Antoine Lebreux had a bunt single, Krowl was hit by a pitch, and T.J. White walked to load the bases. Afterward, Abbott brought in a pair with a two-run single. Jakob Goldfarb cut the deficit to 4-1 with a solo homer off Carlos Sano in the fifth. It was his first homer in a ValleyCats uniform. Québec extended its lead back to four in the bottom of the fifth. Juremi Profar picked up a single off Matt Dunaway. The Capitales placed a runner at each square base after Justin Gideon and Abbott worked a walk. Tyler Blaum plated Profar with a single to put the Capitales on top, 5-1. Trey Hair took Sano deep with a solo blast in the sixth to make it a 5-2 ballgame. It was his eighth big fly of the season. Québec retaliated in the bottom of the sixth. White was hit by a pitch, and Justin Gideon lifted one over the fence to pull the Capitales ahead, 7-2. Québec took advantage of the free passes in the eighth. Aaron Ernst issued walks to Lebreux and White before Profar went to first on a single. Gideon reached on an RBI fielder's choice, and White crossed the plate on a passed ball to make it a 9-2 affair. The ValleyCats showed life in the ninth. Franklin Parra hit Pavin Parks with a pitch before giving up singles to Goldfarb and Ian Walters. Parra retired the next three batters in order to come out unscathed after a bases-loaded, no-out jam. Sano (2-1) earned the win. He pitched 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits, walking two, and striking out eight. Beebe (1-1) received the loss. He tossed four innings, yielding four runs on six hits, walking three, and striking out two.
The Sussex County Miners tied the game in the ninth and scored two in the tenth to edge the Evansville Otters 5-3 on Tuesday night. Sussex County used back-to-back base hits and an error, all with two outs to score the tying run in the ninth inning. A hit batter and base hit nearly gave the Otters a walk-off win in the ninth but an inning ending double play ended the threat. The Miners scored two in the tenth as a base hit scored the ghost runner at second and the second run scored on two stolen bases and an error. A hit Otters' batter put the tying runner on base in the bottom of the tenth but a flyout ended the game. The loss spoiled an excellent outing by Zach Smith. The starter struck out a season high eight batters in seven innings of work allowing just two runs and five hits. Noah Myers appeared to have the game winning hit in the sixth, a two-out two RBI double broke a 1-1 tie. The Miners got one run back on a solo homer in the seventh before tying things in the ninth. Jomar Reyes' had a base hit to reach a 12 game hitting streak, tied for the longest of any Otter this season. George Callil notched three hits on Tuesday, including a double and a run.
The New York Boulders went winless in their doubleheader against the Trois-Rivieres Aigles on Tuesday, 11-2, 2-1. The doubleheader consisted of two seven-inning games, making up a postponed matchup from June 15 between the two teams.The Boulders struggled from the mound in the first game of the day, with Trois-Rivieres tallying 18 hits in its 11-2 win. New York starter Ryan Munoz allowed five runs in four innings of work. Brian Morrisey allowed three runs in two innings of relief. Trois-Rivieres starter Osman Gutierrez threw six innings, allowing only two runs. Both of the Boulders' runs in the loss came on solo home runs from Gabriel Garcia and Matt McDermott. Ricardo Sanchez's four RB and Steve Brown's three RBI led the way for the Aigles in the first game of the twin bill. Despite their poor performance from the mound in the first game, the Boulders pitching bounced back in the late game, allowing only two runs in the contest. Starter Dawson Lane tossed five shutout innings and allowed only two hits. Dylan Smith came in for a short relief stint and didn't allow any damage. Jose Alcantara allowed two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Patrick Kivlehan's solo home run in the top of the fourth was the lone run scored in the game for New York. Trois-Rivieres' rally in the bottom of the sixth proved to be just enough to squeak by. Sacrifice flies from Rodrigo Orozco and Juan Kelly sealed the deal for the Aigles.
