Extra Effort Not Enough
Boomers outlast Crushers in 13 inning marathon
AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy Health, saw a come from behind effort come up short on Saturday evening at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium, as they fell to the Schaumburg Boomers, 7-6 in 13 innings.
The loss the Crushers (49-40) snapped a four game winning streak, while their magic number to clinch the East Division remains at four. The win for the Boomers (44-45) was their eighth in 11 extra inning games this season.
The Crushers fired the first shot in the bottom of the first inning. Aaron Hill doubled to start the inning, and came around to score on Steven Kraft’s RBI single.
Schaumburg tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fourth. Quincy Nieporte reached on a one out double and came around to score on Luis Roman’s two out double to right center.
Lake Erie regained the lead in the sixth inning when Brody Wofford belted a RBI double down the line in left with two outs to score Dale Burdick.
Schaumburg then scored four times on three hits to take a 5-2 lead in the top of the seventh. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Connor Oliver singled to center. The ball scooted past Kraft in center, and the error allowed three runs to score while Oliver made his way to third. Dylan Jones drove Oliver home moments later on a RBI double.
The Crushers used a two out rally to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth. Kraft started the two out rally with a walk, and moved to second on Wofford’s single. Bryan DeLaRosa then smashed a game tying, three run homer to left, his third of the year to knot things up at 5-5.
The game went into the 13th inning before any other runs were scored. The Boomers had the bases loaded with one out when Logan Lombana (1-3) hit Jones with a 2-2 pitch to score Gian Martellini. Jack Parenty drove in the next run on a groundout to give the Boomers a 7-5 lead.
Lake Erie plated their final run in the bottom of the 13th. Burdick score on Kraft’s RBI groundout, but it was not enough.
Trevin Eubanks (1-0) pitched three innings of relief for the Boomers and allowed just an unearned run, no hits and struck out three to snag the victory. Lombana allowed a pair of runs on one hit in the 13th inning and took the loss.
The Crushers will finish their three game series with the Boomers, and play their final home game of the regular season at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The starting pitching matchup has not been announced. The first pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
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