June 18, 2023
POMONA, NY – Lake Erie dropped the series finale to New York on a Father’s Day Sunday matinee by a final score of 3-2. It was one the Crushers (15-18) should’ve had, one they could’ve had, and one they would’ve had if it weren’t for a late surge from the Boulders (19-13) to steal Game 3.
The Crushers got off to an early lead in the top of the third inning. Sean Cheely led off the frame with a solo blast to right-center field. After John Tuccillo followed suit with a double, he later scored off a wild pitch to make it a 2-0 contest.
The Boulders got one back in the fifth inning. Gabriel Garcia led off with a single and was balked over two bags by Yasel Santana. He was hit in on a sacrifice fly by Giovanni Garbella to trim the Lake Erie lead to one.
It was a quiet day for both teams with the bats. Neither team could find the scoreboard again until late in the game but the Boulders brought drama to the field in the eighth.
It was a solo blast off the bat of Joe DeLuca to tie the game. Following up the home run with a single from Garbella, he later came to score on an RBI double from Matt McDermott. In the blink of an eye, it was 3-2 in favor of New York.
All three Crushers in the ninth inning stuck out to end the game. It was a series where they had a good chance to earn their first sweep of the season — leading going into the bottom of the eighth inning for the last two contests — Lake Erie will walk away with a 2-4 record for their six-game road series.
Yasel Santana had a terrific day on the mound. He threw for 7.0 innings allowing three runs off of four hits. He takes the hard-luck loss and moves to 2-2 on the season.
The Crushers will take the eight-hour bus ride home to the shores of Lake Erie. With an off day tomorrow, the grapes will rest and leave this behind them with hopes of bouncing back against a red-hot Schaumberg Boomers team.
The first pitch of the series will be at 7:05 PM ET on June 20.
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