Lake Erie Crushers News & Game Recaps

Avon, OH – The Lake Erie Crushers (37-22) couldn’t get past the offensive attack of the Florence Y’alls (25-33) on Saturday. They drop the series with the 8-5 loss and fall to 2.5 games back of Washington in the Frontier League West.

The Y’alls opened the scoring in the top of the 2nd inning. 1B Zade Richardson remained impossible to get out as he tripled home a run. He would score on an RBI dump-in single by 2B Justin Lavey.

Florence’s 2-0 lead was quickly cut in half by a solo home run by SS Jarrod Watkins in the 3rd. The blast was Watkins’ third of the year and cut the Y’alls lead in half. Watkins tied the game in the 5th after C John Tuccillo drew a bases loaded walk.

With the Crushers tying the game 2-2, the Y’alls got back to work the next inning. 3B Brian Fuentes doubled, advanced on a wild pitch by LHP Darrien Ragins, then scored on a RF Hank Zeisler sacrifice fly. The lead was back with Florence for a moment, but the Crushers responded in kind.

With two outs in the 6th, 2B Logan Thomason ripped an RBI double to tie the game at three, but slipped rounding second base on his way to third. After dodging the tag attempt, he was called out of the baseline, much to the chagrin of Jared Lemieux. Instead of a man in scoring position, the inning was over and the Crushers had to settle for a 3-3 game.

Ragins’ outing finished after six innings, and he was awarded yet another quality start after giving up just three earned runs. The Crusher veteran struck out a season high seven batters and would remain unbeaten while receiving a no-decision.

The All-Star RHP Christian Scafidi came in with the score 3-3. He gave up a leadoff homer in the 7th to, guess who? Zade Richardson. The solo shot put Florence back up by one. It was just the second home run given up by Scafidi and the fourth run all season. Some may say he was hot, but luck was certainly on the side of the Y’alls on Saturday.

In the 8th, RHP Sammy Tavarez gave up two runs, the second of which came on a fly ball that the Crushers middle of the field lost in the blue night sky. It was the first time Tavarez had given up a run since June 11th. Yes, a month and a half. Some may say the Y’alls were hot, but luck was certainly on the side of the Y’alls on Saturday.

In the 9th, LHP Cal Carver came in with his 1.38 ERA to keep the game 6-3. The first pitch of the inning was hit off the base of the mound, amassed an RPM of over 9,000, and spun out of the reach of Walner Espinal. Some may say the Y’alls were hot, but luck was certainly on the side of the Y’alls on Saturday. Several batters later, Hank Zeisler was jammed to all get-out on a fastball off the hands. Despite pulling his head and praying he made contact on the two-strike pitch, Zeisler managed to keep it fair by a foot, blooping it just into the outfield down the first base line. Some may say the Y’alls were hot, but luck was certainly on the side of the Y’alls on Saturday.

Meanwhile over the course of the game, the Crushers were hitting everything hard with nothing to show for. Multiple 100mph liners were caught without much effort by the Y’alls. The Y’alls found all the holes. The Crushers were afforded none.

The Crushers made it interesting in the bottom of the 9th despite coming in down 8-3. RF Jack Harris hit an RBI double, and after a couple singles, the tying run came to the plate with two outs. 3B Michel Triana fouled off a couple pitches in the at-bat, but he was ultimately set down by Ben Terwilliger to end the game. The Crushers dropped the game and the series by a score of 8-5.

A very weird game. You may never see Scafidi, Tavarez, or Carver give up runs again this season, much less all in the same game. Some may say the Y’alls were hot, but luck was certainly on their side on Saturday.

The Crushers look to take the series finale on Sunday, July 21. First pitch in Avon, Ohio is set for 2:05 p.m. from Crushers Stadium. It’s a Main Event Sunday Funday, so bring the kids out to the ballpark for an afternoon of excitement and fun. Kids can run the bases and get player autographs after the game. Anthony Escobar will try to salvage a game for Lake Erie coming out of the All-Star break.

Interested in attending? Tickets can be found at the link provided below:

https://mlb.tickets.com/schedule/?agency=LERV_PL_MPV&orgid=57231#/?view=list&includePackages=true

Can’t join us at the ballpark? No worries! You can stream the Lake Erie Crushers all season long at FloSports.tv.

Frontier League Standings: https://frontierleague.com/sports/bsb/2023-24/overall-standings

Be sure to also follow the Crushers on Instagram/Facebook/X @LECrushers!