The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Crushers lose chance at postseason with loss
The Lake Erie Crushers were just never able to put it all together and as a result, they will not be making a trip to the postseason.
The Crushers entered their Sept. 8 game with Schaumburg at 40-51 and in third place in the Central Division, eight games behind the division champion Schaumburg and ½ game behind second-place Windy City. How best to sum up their 2021 campaign? A campaign that wraps up Sept. 12 on the road against Evansville.
When they hit, they pitched poorly. When they pitched well, they didn’t swing the bats.
When things did start to click for the Crushers sluggers Connor Oliver and Isacc Bernard both went down seemingly back-toback with what turned out to be season-ending injuries.
Bernard, an outfielder, was hitting a team-best .309 with five home runs and 25 RBI when he left the lineup. He joined the team a couple of weeks into the season, but once inserted into the lineup could be counted on to produce solid, professional at-bats.
Oliver was hitting .272 with seven home runs and 34 RBI when he suffered a season-ending ankle injury in mid-August. He has also just been named the Frontier Player of the Week on Aug. 16 after hitting .500 in a six-game span with four doubles, a home run, and eight RBI just before he was hurt.
The bottom fell out for the Crushers after Oliver went down as they went on a nine-game losing streak and never were able to get back into contention.
Steve Passatempo, an infielder/designated hitter, said the Crushers have never been able “to put it together.”
“It wasn’t about getting breaks. We either pitch well one week and don’t hit. And then we hit well one week and don’t pitch,” said Passatempo, who has a decent year at the plate hitting nine home runs and driving in 30, although he hit only .213.
A consistent bright spot in the lineup has been the second baseman Trevor Achenbach, who as of Sept. 8 was hitting .278 with a time high 14 home runs and 55 RBI.
Manager Dan Rohn said his team just couldn’t battle through all the injuries, which included losing two starting pitchers during the first half of the season.
“I’m proud of the way the guys came out and played. We’ve been undermanned with injuries for the last month-and-a-half. Guys have filled in admirably, it’s just hard to replace your three and four hitters and stay competitive. Those are big losses,” Rohn said.
The seasons for all practical purposes took a huge turn in the wrong direction on a sunny Sunday on July 18. The Crushers entered the game against Schaumburg with a slim ½ game lead.
The Crushers took a 4-2 lead into the top of the ninth. But reliever Daniel Kight, who entered that appearance with an ERA of 0.87, was touched for three runs and the Crushers lost 5-4 and fell out of first-place.
“That was a tough one. They won that and had some momentum,” Passatempo said.
Another painful loss came a few weeks later when the Crushers blew a six-run lead in the ninth inning in a 13-10 loss to Evansville. The Crushers entered that game with a 10-4 lead in the ninth. But the Kight and fellow reliever J.T. Perez were both lit up in the loss. That defeat came a day after the Crushers had failed to hold a 4-0 lead in a 5-4 loss to Evansville.
Even as they have fallen farther out of contention and farther below the .500 level, the Crushers have continued to play hard.
“That’s all you can ask for is for a team to play hard,” said Passatempo.
Crushers lose
The end of the regular season can’t come quick enough. The Lake Erie Crushers’ late-season swoon continued as they blew a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning in what turned out to be a 6-2 loss to Schaumburg on Sept. 8 at Mercy Health Stadium.
The Crushers are officially eliminated from playoff contention.
The loss dropped the Crushers to 40-52 on the season while Schaumburg, the Central Division champs, improved to 48-42. The Crushers have lost six of their last 10 contests and their current losing streak is two.
Crushers starting pitcher Dillon Larsen, a tall, hardthrowing left-hander, allowed just one earned run in 5 innings while striking out three and walking three.
He left with his team in leading, 2-1.
But reliever Tyler Sugg was roughed up for seven hits and four runs in 2 innings of work and was tagged with the loss.
Schaumburg scored five runs in the eighth inning to pull out the win.
Steve Passatempo and Javier Betancourt both had two hits each for the Crushers, who were outhit in the game 9-7.
Quincy Nieporte collected a pair of hits, including his 16th home run of the year to lead Schaumburg.