Crushers Fall in Series Finale
Lake Erie offense silenced in 4-2 loss to Joliet
AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy Health, were held to just four hits at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as they dropped the rubber match of the three game series in a 4-2 setback against the Joliet Slammers.
The loss for the Crushers (11-10) marks their fourth straight series loss, while the win for the Slammers (7-14) marks just the second time this season that they’ve won back-to-back games.
Joliet jumped on the board with a run in the top of the first. Chaz Meadows reached on Aaron Hill’s error at second, and scored later in the inning on a bizarre play. With runners on first and second and two outs, catcher Brian DeLaRosa attempted a pickoff throw to first. DeLaRosa had a hard time handling the ball on the exchange from his glove hand to his throwing hand, and it bounced away from him, which allowed Meadows to get to third. DeLaRosa’s attempt to throw him out at third hit off of Meadows as he was sliding into the bag, and ended up in the Crusher dugout, allowing Meadows to score.
The Slammers added two more in the top of the second. Jose Camacho ripped a one out single to center and made his way to third on Ridge Hoopi-Haslam’s double into the right field corner. Three batters later, Jared Morello delivered a two out single to right to score both Camacho and Hoopi-Haslam to give the Slammers a 3-0 lead.
Lake Erie was able to cut into the deficit with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. Walks were issued to Zach Racusin and Jake Vieth to start the inning, before newly acquired Gavin Stupienski smashed a run scoring single to right. DeLaRosa followed with a sacrifice fly-out to right, scoring Vieth in the process.
After the third inning, the Crusher offense was limited to just one hit, as Joliet pitchers retired the last 14 Lake Erie batters of the contest. The Slammers added one more run in the top of the ninth on Morello’s two out RBI single to right.
Matt Quintana (1-0) scored the victory for Joliet after allowing just a pair of runs on four hits and struck out seven through seven innings, while Cody Clark (1) snagged the save after retiring all six batters he faced. Jake Repavich (1-2) took the loss after allowing three runs, only two earned on six hits and fanned four over five innings of work.
James Davison was the only Crusher to hit safely multiple times, going 2-for-4 with a pair of base hits, and has now reached safely in 13 consecutive games.
The Crushers are off on Monday and Tuesday but will begin a three game series with the River City Rascals at CarShield Field on Wednesday evening. The starting pitching matchup has not been announced. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 PM.
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