THE LAKE ERIE CRUSHERS: SCORELESS AND...VICTORIOUS?
WRITTEN BY: MIKE GUISTOLISE
AVON, OH - Baseball, in some form or another, has existed for the better part of nearly 200 years.
With a touch of curiosity (and a quick Google search), anyone can read up on America's Pastime and its expansive history. Needless to say, with such a storied archive of events, it's fairly difficult to do something for the first time in a recorded professional baseball game.
However, history was made in the Frontier League on Friday night: the Lake Erie Crushers defeated the Schaumburg Boomers without scoring a run, marking the first time a team has achieved a win without scoring in a professional baseball game.
Of course, the question now must be asked: How is that possible? The answer lies within the Frontier League rules for games that extend past the 10th inning:
Beginning with the 2022 season, tied games in the Frontier League that went beyond 10 full innings (or eight innings for a double-header game) would be settled in a half-inning sudden death. The rule states that in the event of a tie, the home team designates whether they will field or hit for half of the 11th inning. If the home team elects to field and prevents the visitors from scoring, they will be declared the winners. If the home team decides to hit, the batter on the lineup card who immediately proceeds the next scheduled batter to hit will be placed on first base and the game will proceed with normal extra-inning rules. If the home team scores, they win. If the opposition prevents a run from scoring, they win. The winning decision will be given to whomever was the last pitcher entered for the winning side. The rule also dictates that there will not be a losing pitcher should the team on defense win.
The sudden death concept was first devised by current San Francisco Giants' Double-A manager Dennis Pelfrey, a former Frontier League All-Star as a player and manager. A committee of field managers worked with the league office over several months to finalize the specific procedure.
"The sudden death rule has brought a tremendous amount of excitement to our games while minimizing extra wear on pitchers and providing a timely ending to games," commented Frontier League commissioner Steve Tahsler. "With the health of our pitchers being a top concern, we wanted to create an efficient way to end games while still maintaining baseball components. Forcing the manager to decide whether to hit or pitch opens him up to second-guessing by fans. We also are able to show that pitching and defense truly can win a game."
The early August contest was a battle of two left-handed aces, with Cole Cook and Jack Eisenbarger matching each other with scoreless frame after scoreless frame. Cook, the reigning Frontier League Pitcher of the Year, spun eight scoreless innings behind nine strikeouts while only allowing three hits. Eisenbarger, who was teammates with his opposition in the Frontier League All-Star game in July, was equally dominant, carrying Lake Erie through 7.2 scoreless innings while tallying five punchouts.
Through the first six innings, the West Division rivals waited for the other to blink. The top of the seventh inning brought a spark into a reasonably calm game when Schaumburg's third baseman Paxton Wallace cracked the first pitch of the inning high in the air out towards deep right field. All Eisenbarger could do was watch as his teammate and right fielder Jake Guenther tracked the ball back toward the fence. With a leap that sent him crashing into the wall, Guenther's glove managed to sneak over the fence and bring back what would have (and perhaps should have) been a home run to keep the game scoreless.
"We were about as far away as you can get when it happened," said Lake Erie manager Jared Lemieux. "[Guenther] jumped up and banged against the wall and we didn't know if he caught it. He was so nonchalant about it."
The cheers from the dugouts quickly switched sides as Guenther raised his glove to show evidence of his eye-popping defensive highlight. Eisenbarger continued his shutout effort and retired four more batters before calling it a night after tossing a season-high 107 pitches.
On the other side, the Crushers finally broke through against Cook in the eighth inning and established a man in scoring position after a single and a hit-by-pitch. The runner represented the first time Lake Erie managed a runner on second for the entire game. Cook managed to get out of the eighth unscathed, ending his outing without allowing a run.
Right-handed flamethrower Trevor Kuncl entered the game in the ninth out of the Crusher bullpen to keep the game at a draw. Kuncl, who ranks third in the league in saves (17), made quick work of the middle of the Schaumburg lineup with a 1-2-3 inning.
Lake Erie threatened in the bottom of the ninth with two men on and one out, but right-handed reliever Dylan Stutsman was able to keep the ball in the infield and strand runners at the corners to send the game into the 10th.
Kuncl came back out for the 10th and worked his way out of a jam to leave Boomers stranded on second and third. Right-handed closer Jake Joyce slammed the door in the bottom of the inning for Schaumburg by inducing an inning-ending double play. Thus, the game would be decided in sudden death.
The Crushers chose to close the game out defensively and handed the ball to right-hander Sammy Tavarez to try to keep the game scoreless. With a runner placed on first, the Boomers opened the inning with a sacrifice bunt to move the potential winning run into scoring position. Lake Erie countered the move by intentionally walking the next hitter to set up a force out at second and third base. Tavarez was able to induce the ground ball he needed for a potential double play, but the Crushers were only able to get the out at first while both lead runners moved into scoring position. After a tense six-pitch at-bat loaded the bases, Tavarez got the next hitter to roll over the first pitch to Scout Knotts at first base, who gobbled it up and stepped on the bag to end the game.
The historical event concluded with Tavarez picking up his second win of the season, leaving the bases loaded and the hearts of Boomers fans broken. It was the first sudden-death defeat of the year for Schaumburg while also signifying a key win for the Crushers as both teams battle for the final playoff spot in the West.
Reflecting on the victory, Lemieux remarked "It's one of the most unique things about baseball, where a game without a score is one of the most exciting games I've managed all year".
Lemieux, who managed both Eisenbarger and Cook in the mid-summer classic, credited both starters for demonstrating their All-Star capabilities in their head-to-head matchup.
"It was an absolute battle between two All-Star starters. It was a fun game to watch."
Friday's contest was the 36th time that the sudden death rule has been needed to decide a game. Home teams have an overall 20-16 record for these games. In the 2024 season, the home team has elected to pitch in 13 of the 14 opportunities and has won ten times.
The game gives a glimpse at some of the excitement that is generated by the rule changes in the Frontier League while also being the cutting edge of time management within the game of baseball.
Schaumburg play-by-play broadcaster Tim Calderwood went on to praise the sudden death concept, saying "The addition of sudden death has added an entirely new level of excitement late in games, especially on weekend games like Fridays when the crowd is still in the ballpark.
While it may be the first scoreless game in history, it's probably not the last.
