Lake Erie Crushers News & Game Recaps

Crushers Tame Wild Things

Great pitching paces Crushers in 5-1 win

Box Link: https://frontierleague.com/sports/bsb/2022-23/boxscores/20230810_l4np.xml

AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers scored a series victory on Thursday night at Mercy Health Stadium, as they limited the Washington Wild Things to just a run on five hits in a 5-1 win.

The series win for the Crushers (29-46) was their second in their last three series at home, while the loss for the Wild Things (34-41) was their sixth in their last seven games at Mercy Health Stadium.

After a 58-minute rain delay to start the evening, Anthony Brocato jumped on the first pitch of the contest, smashing a solo homer over the all in center for his 23rd long ball of the season to give Washington a 1-0 lead.

Lake Erie tied it up with a homer of their own in the bottom of the third. Kenen Irizarry led the inning off with a solo homer to right, his third of the season.

The Crushers took the lead one inning later. Hector Roa started the inning with a single through the left side of the infield. A wild pitch put Roa on second and he came around to score the go-ahead run on John Tuccillo’s two out RBI single to center.

Lake Erie sent all nine batters to the plate in the home half of the fifth, scoring three times on four hits to take a 5-1 lead. It all started when Jiandido Tromp was hit by a 2-2 pitch. Zach Racusin followed with a single to right and Scout Knotts singled home Tromp on a RBI base hit to center. Josh Rego drove Racusin home on a sacrifice fly to center and Roa drove in the final run of the inning on a RBI single to center to plate Knotts.

The trio of Yasel Santana (3-6), Trevor Kuncl and Darrien Ragins held the Washington offense in check. Santana was terrific, turning in his finest start of the season to secure his first win since June 13. He allowed a run on four hits while fanning seven over seven innings to score the win while Kuncl and Ragins both tossed scoreless innings in relief. Dariel Fregio (2-2) took the loss after allowing five runs, four earned on seven hits through 4.1 innings.

For the second straight night, four Crushers hit safely multiple times. Racusin went 2-for-5 and extended his hitting streak to eight games. Knotts went 2-for-3, reaching four times on the night and he reached seven times in the series. Roa went 2-for-3 against his former team with a pair of singles and Tuccillo went 2-for-3 with a pair of base hits as well.

The Crushers will hit the road for a three game series against the Florence Y’alls on Friday night. Lefty Jonaiker Villalobos (1-3, 8.26) will get the start for the Crushers and the first pitch is scheduled for 7:03 PM.