June 15, 2023
Box Score: https://www.frontierleague.
TROY, NY – The Lake Erie Crushers dropped the series finale to the Tri-City ValleyCats by a final score of 9-2. The Crushers (14-16) took an early lead but could not hold on as the ValleyCats (16-14) stormed back and won in convincing fashion.
Lake Erie got on the board in the top of the third inning. With one away Kemuel Thomas-Rivera blasted a solo shot over the right field wall to put the Crushers up 1-0. Although Thomas-Rivera has only played in three games this year for the Grapes, he already has five hits.
The Crushers added one more in the top of the fourth, as Todd Isaacs Jr. hit a sacrifice fly to center field which was just deep enough to score Jiandido Tromp who led the inning off with a single. After making it 2-0, it was crickets on the scoreboard for Lake Erie.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Nathan Holt came into relief for JD Hammer and gave up an RBI double to Pavin Parks, followed by a three-run mammoth shot off the bat of Trey Hair. The ValleyCats took a 4-2 lead and never looked back.
Two more homers and five more runs were given up by Holt as it was a tough day at the office for the right-hander, and in the blink of an eye, it was out of reach for the Grapes.
The Crushers, despite hitting for 10 knocks, left 12 men left on base and could not capitalize to try and get themselves back in the game.
They had bases loaded in the sixth inning and left them stranded. The Crushers also had runners on second and third in the eighth frame with one away and could not punch in the ticket to score.
Thomas-Rivera had a three-hit day and was the only Lake Erie hitter other than Jiandido Tromp, who went 2-for-3, to have a multi-hit game.
JD Hammer had another nice outing in his third start of the year, as he went 3.0 innings allowing no runs on three hits while striking out five. Although it seemed to be a short day, it was the most pitches Hammer has thrown all season – keeping in mind that he has been a reliever his entire career.
The Crushers will have to leave this one behind them as they travel three hours south to Rockland County for a three-game extravaganza against the New York Boulders beginning tomorrow, with the first pitch at 7:00 PM ET.
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