Former Jacket McAdams hits grand slam in Crushers’ win
From Lake Erie reports FLORENCE, KY
– The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy, put on an offensive show in a 23-6 win over the Florence Freedom. The Crushers (26-32) set season highs in hits and runs scored while the Freedom (37-22) dropped their fourth contest in five meetings with Lake Erie.
Lake Erie blew the game wide open in the first inning. L.J. Kalawaia led off with a single, and Jordan Dean brought in the first two runs with a home run to left. Connor Simonetti and Sean Hurley followed with back-to-back doubles to bring in a third run, and Hurley advanced to third on a wild pitch. Connor Oliver followed with a chopper to second that scored Hurley, and Austin O’Brien drew a walk to continue the rally. Former Calhoun High standout Josh McAdams added a single, and a flyout to deep center from Tanner Lubach advanced both runners into scoring position. In the next at bat, Parker Norris connected for a single to bring in two more runs and put the Crushers up 6-0 after one.
Lake Erie continued to pile on with another six-run inning in the third. O’Brien led off with a double, and Lubach brought him in with a single two batters later.
Norris added a double to plate another run, and Kalawaia doubled in the next at bat to score Norris. After a wild pitch moved Kalawaia to third, Dean bounced a ball through the left side of the infield to bring in the 10th run of the game. Two batters later, Sean Hurley launched a ball to left to give Lake Erie a 12-0 advantage.
The Crushers put up another big number in the fifth. L.J. Kalawaia led off with his first home run with Lake Erie, and after the Crushers loaded the bases, Josh McAdams knocked a grand slam to extend the lead to 17-0. In the following inning, Sean Hurley crushed his second two-run dinger of the night, and Lake Erie led 19-0 after six.
The Crushers added another run in the seventh to increase the lead to 20, but Florence refused to go quietly, plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning. The Freedom’s best inning at the plate came in the eighth. After Jordan Brower drew a walk to lead off the frame, and Keivan Berges connected for his third double of the night to put two runners in scoring position. In the next at bat, Garrett Vail knocked a home run to bring in three runs.
Ozzy Braff, continued the rally with a double in the next at bat, advancing to third on a wild pitch. Daniel Fraga grounded out to third in the next at bat to bring in Braff and bring the score to 20-6.
Lake Erie got the final say, plating three runs in the ninth. McAdams and Lubach connected for back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, and a walk to Parker Norris loaded the bases. Kalawaia capped off a six-for-seven night with a two-run double that left men on second and third. Trevor Achenbach finished off the scoring, bouncing a groundball to short to bring in Norris and give the Crushers a 23-6 lead.
Connor Reed (3-6) picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts in six innings. Manny Arciniega finished off the final three innings, surrendering four earned runs, to collect his second save of the season.