Ninth-inning rally seals fourth victory in a row

The Lake Erie Crushers rallied in the ninth inning to stun the Normal CornBelters, 2-1, at Sprenger Stadium on July 29.

Down, 1-0, the Crushers loaded the bases on a single, walk and intentional walk.

With one out, Connor Oliver rapped a ground ball and Connor Simonetti was forced at second, but Normal second baseman Santiago Chirino threw the ball away trying to get a double play, allowing Jordan Dean and Cody Lenahan to score and win the game.

It’s the fourth-straight win for Lake Erie.

“I was just trying to put the ball in play,” Oliver said. “Because I knew even if I hit a ground ball that they got to turn it quick or I got it to hit it really hard. I think he went first pitch slider for a strike and I thought it was a little down.

“And then second pitch, on the board he was at 88 and 92 and he threw a hard two-seamer away. At that point, I knew I had to put the ball in play.

“I was running as fast as I can and didn’t even realize we won the game. I was just trying to get the run in to tie it.”

The Crushers have regained the mojo they had right before the All-Star break where they won five in a row.

“We’re a tough team to beat right now,” Oliver added. “Especially playing here with the wind blowing in so hard and you can’t hit homers. We just have to put a couple runs on the board and get good pitching. That’s going to win you a lot of ball games.”

Crushers starter Juan Caballero and Normal’s Scott Sebald matched each other pitch-for-pitch until the eighth inning. Caballero, making his first start against Normal, yielded a leadoff single to Craig Lepre in the eighth, and followed with a sacrifice bunt from Ty Morris.

After a Lepre stolen base, Caballero got Justin Fletcher out before manager Cam Roth replaced him with reliever Justin Sinibaldi.

Sinibaldi’s pitch was a passed ball that went off catcher Austin Afenir’s glove and scored Normal’s only run of the night. Caballero tossed 7 2/3 innings, giving up five hits. He stuck out four.

Sebald dazzled Crushers hitters to the tune of 13 strikeouts in eight shutout innings.

“The key was my fastball command and with that I can command my breaking pitch,” Caballero said. “I was praying this morning God would give me a great game for the fans today. That was an exciting game. Both pitchers did a great job and I had a good defense that saved me. I like games like that.”

There were rarely any stressful situations for Caballero, who at one point retired nine batters in a row before giving up a double in the seventh to Miguel Torres with one out.

But Caballero retired the final two batters afterward.

The Crushers have an opportunity on July 30 to sweep Normal.

“It wasn’t really a highly offensive game,” Roth said. “Cabby threw the ball great and we knew at some point it was going to come to that. He’s been getting there.

“I think our guys are doing a good job in the clubhouse and they’re paying attention to detail.

“We’ve strayed away from playing against three different opponents — the game, the other team and the umpires. We’re staying positive and paying attention to the details.” RBI