McAdams hits homer for Crushers
Former Calhoun standout goes deep in Lake Erie loss
— The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy, dropped their series opener with the River City Rascals, 7-3, on Tuesday night. The Crushers (2331) saw their losing streak extended to four games while the Rascals (29-27) took the first meeting between the two teams in 2017.
The Crushers opened the scoring early in the first inning. L.J. Kalawaia led off with a double, and Sean Hurley brought him in with a two-out single to give Lake Erie a 1-0 advantage after one.
After a quiet first two innings, the Rascals jumped ahead with a three-run third. Johnny Morales led off with a single, and Brandon Thomas drew a base on balls to put runners on first and second. After Jimmy Kerrigan singled in Morales, River City executed a double steal to put two men in scoring position. Josh Silver took advantage of the opportunity, knocking in both runners with double to put the Rascals on top, 3-1.
River City added another trio of runs in the fourth. Josh Ludy started the rally with a one-out single, and Morales put men on first and second with a walk in the next at bat. Two batters later, Kerrigan smacked an RBI single, leaving runners on second and third, and Jason Merjano followed up with a two-run single to give the Rascals a 6-1 lead.
The Crushers battled back in the seventh. Hurley led off with his third base knock of the night, and former Calhoun High standout Josh McAdams launched a shot over the wall in right-center to pull Lake Erie within three.
River City answered back in the bottom half of the inning, plating a run on a pair of hits. Mike Jurgella lifted a double to left-center, moving to third on a bobbled ball by left fielder Connor Simonetti. In the next at bat, Clint Freeman polished off the scoring with an RBI single to push the Rascals’ lead to 7-3.
Juan Caballero shouldered the loss for the Crushers. Cabal- lero (3-2) surrendered six earned runs on as many hits while walking three and fanning three in four innings of work.
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McAdams has two hits, two RBIs in Crushers’ loss AVON, Ohio
— The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy, were swept by the Joliet Slammers, as they fell in the series finale on Sunday afternoon in a 9-6 setback at Sprenger Health Care Stadium.
The loss for the Crushers (2330) was their third straight following a five game winning streak, while the victory for the Slammers (24-28) was their third in a row following a three game losing streak.
The Crushers fired the first shot, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Austin O’Brien started the inning with a double to left and he came around to score on Josh McAdams’s RBI single to center.
Joliet put a two out rally together to take the lead in the top of the third. After retiring the first two batters of the inning on five pitches, Connor Reed (2-6) allowed three straight two out hits. Ridge Hoopii-Haslam started the rally with a triple down the right field line and scored on a RBI single from Spencer Navin.
Melvin Rodriguez followed with a double to the gap in right center to put runners on second and third. Reed then struck out Danny Zardon, but a wild pitch on the dropped third strike kept the inning alive and allowed Navin to score from third. Edwin Gomez followed with a RBI double down the left field line to cap the inning.