De La Rosa’s walkoff hit wins game in the 11th Crushers update

The Lake Erie Crushers used some late-inning magic to defeat the Traverse City Beach Bums, 6-5, in a four-hour, 11-inning thriler in front of 1,022 fans at Sprenger Stadium on May 31.

After another blown lead, this time in the eighth inning, the Crushers found themselves trailing, 5-4, in bottom of the 11th, courtesy of a RBI double from the Beach Bums’ Steve Lohr, but dug deep as Bryan De La Rosa walked off with a two-RBI hit to snap a twogame losing streak and give the Crushers the victory.

Lake Erie received a stellar pitching performance from Sean Renzi, but watched it almost go by the wayside when reliever Branden Nunn struggled with relief in the top of the eighth, allowing a solo home run to Arby Fields, followed by a two-run shot to Luke Lowery, giving the Beach Bums the 5-4 lead.

The stalemate reached the 11th inning, when the rule of a base runner at second base took effect. That’s all the Beach Bums needed as Steve Lohr drove in the run with a RBI double off Richard McWilliams.

Having watched Nunn allow the winning run in the ninth inning on May 29, it was almost deja vu all over again for Lake Erie manager Cam Roth.

On the other end, Renzi stymied the Beach Bums’ lineup, going seven innings and allowing one earned run, five hits and two walks while striking out nine.

After leaving the bases loaded in the first two innings, the Crushers’ (108) offense finally broke through in the fourth with Dane Hutcheon’s triple scoring Cameron Newell and giving Lake Erie the 1-0 lead.

Hutcheon went 2-for-5 with a triple, a single and two RBI on the night.

With Renzi wheeling and dealing on the mound, Lake Erie’s defense provided him all the support he needed. In particular shortstop Aaron Hill thrilled fans in the third inning with a diving stop and throw out, followed by quick reflexes to halt a liner.

Lake Erie’s Dalton Wheat hammered a home run over the left field wall in the fifth, upping the lead to 2-0.

Shortly after, Newell connected on an RBI single, giving the Crushers a 3-0 lead.

Traverse City’s Jordan Desguin went 4 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs, seven hits and four walks while striking out four.

Renzi ran into trouble in the seventh as the Beach Bums (10-8) battled hard, notching a pair of singles and an RBI double from Max Dutto, slicing the lead to 3-1.

The inning could have been worse if not for a stellar play from Hill to throw out a sliding Donald Glover Jr., promptly ending the inning.