Lake Erie Crushers News & Game Recaps

Pitching In

Crushers blank defending champs in 4-0 victory

Box Link: https://frontierleague.com/sports/bsb/2022-23/boxscores/20230514_v12b.xml

AVON, Ohio —The Lake Erie Crushers used four pitchers to combine for a six-hit shutout at Mercy Health Stadium on Sunday afternoon, as they scored a 4-0 victory over the Quebec Capitales to take the opening series of the season.

The win for the Crushers (2-1) marks their 11th in their last 12 games at home, while the loss for the Capitales (1-2) was their fourth in six games against the Crushers in the all-time series.

Angelo Baez (1-0) turned in a terrific start for the Crushers in his 2023 debut, tossing five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and struck out two to score the victory. Nathan Holt followed suit with a pair of scoreless innings in relief to hold the lead in check. Trevor Kuncl worked a perfect eighth inning before J.D. Hammer secured the shutout with a scoreless ninth.

The Crushers put the first run on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Jack Harris started the inning with an infield single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Vince Byrd Jr. endured a seven pitch battle against Chas Cywin (0-1) and belted a RBI double down the line in left to score Harris.

Byrd started the fourth inning with a single to right field. A walk issued to John Tuccillo put him on second and he advanced to third when Sean Lawlor reached on a fielder’s choice. Sam Frontino then laid a sacrifice bunt down the first base line which allowed Byrd to score.

Lake Erie added a pair of insurance runs to pull away in the eighth. On an afternoon where the wind was consistently blowing in, Tuccillo smashed a solo homer over the wall in left inning to start the eighth inning, his first of the year. Lawlor followed with a single and he came around to score the final run of the game after Ellison Hannah reached on a fielder’s choice.

A trio of Crushers hit safely multiple times. Santiago Chirino turned in his third straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a single and a double. Byrd went 2-for-4 with a base hit and a double as well, while Lawlor went 2-for-3 and reached safely three times.

The Crushers are off on Monday but will begin a three game series with the Empire State Greys at Mercy Health Stadium on Tuesday morning. Right-hander Yasel Santana (0-0, 0.00) will get the start for the Crushers and the first pitch is scheduled for 11:05 AM.