Lake Erie tops Windy City in 12, hosts Boomers next

With a monumental series against Schaumburg looming in the horizon, Lake Erie gave fans some early fireworks as Jake Vieth walked off with a sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the 12th as the Crushers defeated Windy City, 3-2, in front of 1,999 fans at Sprenger Stadium on Aug. 22.

With the score locked at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, it was a text book effort from Lake Erie (48-39).

Bryan DeLaRosa exercised patience and led off the inning with a walk. Zach Racusin executed a picture-perfect bunt down the first base line, allowing DeLaRosa to easily scamper to second on the forceout. Aaron Hill came away with a grounder in between the pitcher and third, letting DeLaRosa hesitate until the throw was made to first as he scampered to third.

It was a great chance for Logan Farrar to be the hero, but a left-field liner that was CRUSHERS 3, THUNDERBOLTS 2 (12) Up next: Lake Erie hosts the Schaumburg Boomers on Aug. 23. The first pitch is slated for 7:-5 p.m.

retrieved by a sliding Zach Rheams ended the inning.

Lake Erie had another chance in the bottom of the 10th.

Vieth notched a single, followed by a double from Steven Kraft. The scene was set, but Lake Erie was denied once again as Dre Hubbard popped out to mid-center. Vieth gambled by going for the win from third and was promptly gunned down by Chase Cockrell, ending the inning.

The third time proved to be the charm for Lake Erie as Logan Farrar tallied an infield out that advanced the international rule runner Hill to third. Dale Burdick walked, setting up Vieth’s walk-off sacrifice into center field as Hill finally found his way home, and the Crushers finally brought home the W.

Looking to avoid the “trap game”, Lake Erie looked aggressive early on.

After a pair of early hits, the Crushers struck quickly in the bottom of the first with a two-out RBI from Vieth, scoring Hill. The offense made some more noise in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single from Hubbard, scoring Steven Kraft to make it 2-0.

The small lead seemed to be enough as Lake Erie ace, Jared Koenig (7-1) was sizzling on the mound with six strikeouts in the first three innings.

After looking nearly unhittable in the first six innings, Koenig’s strong start was suddenly washed away as the ThunderBolts (37-51) rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh with a pair of two-out RBI singles from Rheams and Nate Montgomery, tying the ball game and prompting Lake Erie manager Cam Roth to make the change on the mound.

Koenig went six and twothirds innings while allowing two runs, four hits and three walks while striking out eight.

Windy City’s Chris Washington (3-8) finished with seven innings of work, allowing two runs, nine hits while striking out five.

After Dalton Geekie came in for a solid inning of relief, Seth Lucio held the ThunderBolts at bay as well, achieving the rare four strikeout inning after a wild pitch extended the eighth inning.

Logan Lambana did his job, striking out the side in the ninth while Gallardo took care of business in the tenth and eleventh.

Having won five of the last six, Lake Erie is confident as they head into a weekend showdown at home against the Schaumburg Boomers (43-43), a team that sits just 4.5 games behind them in the East Division standings with nine game left to play.

Lake Erie opens up its series with Schaumburg at Sprenger Stadium on Aug. 23 with a first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. The Crushers will continue the series Aug. 24 at 6:05 p.m., followed by an Aug. 25 matinee at 2:05 p.m.