Trailing 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth inning the Crushers needed a spark. Eddie Tisdale led the inning with a walk, but Wayne Bond flied out. Catcher Kylee Hash was next and hit a routine fly ball to center field and it looked to kill any chance of a rally. Before the out was recorded, the home plate umpire signaled a balk on Kalamazoo pitcher Andre Benjamin.
With new life Hash singled to left field and the Crushers were back in business. Jodam Rivera came up and singled to center to score Tisdale, and Hash was able to score from first base when the Kings centerfielder Brandon Anderson let the ball roll under his glove and all the way to the outfield wall. Rivera would score on a fielder's choice by Drew Saylor, and the Crushers tied the game.
Unfortunately the Crushers didn't catch enough breaks as they lost the game 9-6.

After collecting 10 hits on Friday night against the Florence Freedom, the Crushers have now pounded out 28 hits in their last two games.
The saying is that hitting is contagious and right now everyone in the Crushers' lineup is producing. Friday night seven out of the nine batters in the Crushers lineup had a least one hit, including leadoff batter Jodam Rivera (2-for-3).
"I try to get on base and do my part, and that's getting on base," he said. "Right now everyone is helping out, and we just want to keep it going,"
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Crushers' catcher Kylee Hash grounded into a double play. The problem was it looked like Freedom's first baseman Matt Stiffler's foot was off the bag at first.
Manager John Masseralli came out to argue the call with the umpire, but to no avail. Even though he didn't get the call overturned, he also kept his cool and didn't get tossed from the game.

While the Crushers were busy knocking the baseball all around All Pro Freight Stadium, lefthanded starter Paul Fagan was turning in his typical workmanlike effort on the mound.
Fagan took the Frontier League lead with his ninth victory of the season, going six innings while allowing three runs on six hits in the Crushers' 15-4 win.
Fagan has established himself as one of the top pitchers in the league. He's not a flamethrower, topping out in the upper-80's and low-90's on occasion, but he works both sides of the plate, mixes speeds and keeps the ball down.
Crushers fans, enjoy Fagan while you can this season because next year the chances are outstanding that he will be back in affiliated ball. That's what the Frontier League is all about, giving talented players the chance to prove they belong in professional baseball. And Fagan has left no doubt.

AVON - The Lake Erie Crushers released All-Star outfielder Luke Hetherington near the end of their last road trip, and the team’s manager John Massarelli held a meeting before Thursday’s 15-4 win over the Florence Freedom to discuss that and other issues with the team.
The Crushers brought Hetherington, a former ninth-round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays, on board this season in an unofficial “player-coach” capacity to work with the younger players on the team during its inaugural season.
On the field Hetherington was solid, hitting .283 with eight home runs and 26 runs driven in. Off the field, however, he failed to reach expectations.
“Luke Hetherington, it was a violation of club policy … and it wasn’t the first time,” Crushers manager John Massarelli said of Hetherington‘s release. “It wasn’t like ‘one strike and you’re out,’ you get three strikes in baseball and that was basically it. I’m not going to elaborate more than that.
“It was an off-the-field issue, it had nothing to do with on the field stuff, and it was just something we felt for the betterment of the Crushers we needed to part ways.”
In 48 games this season Hetherington held down the No. 5 spot in the potent Lake Erie lineup. With his departure Tim Binkowski hit fifth Thursday while Arden McWilliams and Eddy Tisdale also moved up on the line-up. The trio responded by going a combined 7-for-13 with five runs scored in Thursday’s win.
Massarelli said the team is moving forward, and was pleased with the team’s response to the line-up shuffle.
“They’ve been great and I think that’s what happens,” he said. “We’ve taken care of some off-the-field issues. I think other leaders have evolved where it’s going to make us stronger, not weaker.”

O’Fallon, MO – The Lake Erie Crushers had scored ten or more runs to win their previous three ballgames, but on Tuesday they relied on pitching and defense to carry them to a 5-4 win over River City at T.R. Hughes Ballpark.

Lake Erie fell behind 3-0 in the second inning as rookie starter Chris Rigo allowed three doubles and a bases-loaded walk to the Rascals. But the Crushers quickly picked up their teammate in the top of the third as Wayne Bond singled and would eventually score on a fielder’s choice and error on a ball hit by Brad Griffiths. Jodam Rivera then launched a two-run homer to right field to tie the game at three.

The Crushers would grab the lead in the sixth as Bond struck again. The rookie outfielder hit a two-out, two-run homer to left to put Lake Erie ahead 5-3. The Crushers would then rely on their bullpen to carry them the rest of the way as Cristobal Mata and Jacinto Gonell combined to throw four innings of shutout ball. Gonell was aided in the ninth by Rivera’s fine grab of a line drive off the bat of Scott Robinson. Gonell then struck out Chris Colton to end the game.

Rigo went on to receive the win in his first professional start as he allowed three runs on six hits in five innings of work. “I thought he got better as the game went on,” said Lake Erie skipper John Massarelli. “He made adjustments after that second inning and probably could have kept going. It was very positive for us.”

What was also impressive about the win for the Crushers is that it came just hours after the team released outfielder Luke Hetherington. “The release is due to a violation of team policy,” said Massarelli.

The Crushers are now 29-23 on the season and will look to complete a sweep of the Rascals on Wednesday night. Jorge Charry will get the start for Lake Erie against River City’s Josh Lowey.

Lake Erie Crushers at Gateway Grizzlies
Jul 18, 2009 at Sauget, IL (GCS Ballpark)
Lake Erie Crushers 10 (26-23) Gateway Grizzlies 2 (20-29)
Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI
--------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
Rivera. Jodem ss........... 4 1 4 0 Peters, Brandon 2b......... 5 0 2 0
McIlvain, Robert ph/ss.... 1 0 0 0 Johnson, Brandon ss........ 1 1 1 1
Saylor, Andrew 2b.......... 4 1 1 1 Kerins, Alex 3b........... 1 0 0 0
Davis, Andrew 3b........... 5 1 2 0 Holdren, Stephen rf........ 4 0 0 0
Gronkowski, Gordon dh...... 4 1 2 2 Agreste, Joe ph........... 1 0 0 0
Binkoski, Tim lf........... 5 1 3 1 Lisk, Charlie dh........... 2 0 0 0
Hetherington, Luke cf...... 5 0 1 0 Scaperotta, Joseph lf...... 5 0 1 0
Gibson, Jesse cf.......... 1 0 0 0 Rothford, Chad 1b.......... 3 0 0 0
McWilliams, Arden rf....... 5 3 3 2 Draper, Breck c............ 4 1 1 1
Tisdale, Eddie 1b.......... 4 2 2 3 Morrow, Danny 3b/ss........ 4 0 1 0
Griffiths, Brad c.......... 5 0 2 0 West, Jareck cf............ 2 0 0 0
Fagan, Paul p.............. 0 0 0 0 Kubal, Alex cf............ 1 0 0 0
Mata, Cristobal p......... 0 0 0 0 Brackman, Mark p........... 0 0 0 0
Gonell, Jacinto p......... 0 0 0 0 Epperson, Chad p.......... 0 0 0 0
Kelly, Scott p............ 0 0 0 0
Revelette, Adam p......... 0 0 0 0
Totals..................... 43 10 20 9 Totals..................... 33 2 6 2
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
Lake Erie Crushers.. 110 232 100 - 10 20 1
Gateway Grizzlies... 000 110 000 - 2 6 1
-------------------------------------------
E - Tisdale; Johnson. DP - Gateway 1. LOB - Lake Erie 14; Gateway 12. 2B - Rivera.
HR - McWilliams 2; Tisdale; Johnson; Draper. HBP - Gronkowski; Rothford. SH -
Johnson. SF - Saylor; Gronkowski; Binkoski. SB - Davis.
Lake Erie Crushers IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fagan, Paul W,8-1......... 6.0 5 2 2 5 5 0 0 1 0 23 30 5 8 100
Mata, Cristobal ........... 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 5 18
Gonell, Jacinto ........... 1.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 4 5 0 0 22
Gateway Grizzlies IP H R ER BB SO WP BK HP IBB AB BF FO GO NP
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brackman, Mark L,2-6...... 4.0 9 6 6 2 7 1 0 1 0 19 24 3 2 87
Epperson, Chad ............ 1.0 5 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 8 0 3 32
Kelly, Scott .............. 3.0 4 1 1 2 4 0 0 0 0 11 14 2 2 65
Revelette, Adam ........... 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 5 2 1 12

Sauget, Ill – The Crushers decided enough was enough. After losing five straight games, Lake Erie bashed 20 hits and got another solid outing on the mound from Paul Fagan as they battered Gateway 10-2 at GCS Ballpark on Saturday night.

Every player who started for the Crushers got at least one hit. Jodam Rivera led the way with four hits, while Arden McWilliams and Tim Binkoski added three hits. McWilliams helped get the Crushers going early on, as he hit solo homers in the second and fourth innings to give Lake Erie a 4-0 advantage. “I felt really good tonight and got myself into some good fastball counts,” said McWilliams afterwards. “My power is to the opposite field and I was able to get some balls out there to right.”

Eddie Tisdale would get his first professional home run in the fifth inning as he blasted a three run shot to right to put the Crushers ahead by a 7-1 margin. Lake Erie then tacked on two more runs in the sixth on an RBI single by Gordon Gronkowski and an error by Gateway’s Brandon Johnson. Gronkowski then finished the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Meanwhile, Fagan was in complete control for the Crushers, going six strong innings allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts to post his Frontier League-leading eighth win of the season. Cristobal Mata and Jacinto Gonell combined to throw three innings of scoreless relief while Mark Brackman took the loss for Gateway.

The Crushers improve to 26-23 on the season and will meet the Grizzlies in the series finale on Sunday. Brent Lysander will start against Jamie Arneson. “It feels good to get a win again,” said McWilliams. “Now we have to build on this and keep moving.”

Lake Erie Crushers outfielder Luke Hetherington and starting pitcher Paul Fagan had strong showings at the Frontier League All-Star Game Thursday in Love's Park, Illinois.
The East squad defeated the West, 5-2, and Hetherington had a pair of hits in two at-bats. Fagan pitched a perfect second inning, striking out one.
Ryan Basham of the Florence Freedom won most vaulable player honors.

By COLIN WILSON
cwilson@MorningJournal.com
AVON — The Crushers have help behind the plate.
Kylee Hash, who made his first start for the Crushers behind the plate Saturday, has joined the team to provide catching depth. Hash, 21, came to Lake Erie from Laredo of the United League.
The Henderson, Nev. native began his career in the Chicago White Sox organization, playing two years with the team’s rookie-level Bristol Sox. His best season came in 2006 when he hit .273.
Hash fills the void left by injured catcher Nick Maragas, who has been placed on injured reserve with a left wrist sprain. He and Brian Griffiths, who recently suffered a slight injury to the wrist of his throwing hand after being hit by a foul ball, as the backstops on the active roster.
"I’m still getting comfortable, it’s a bunch of good guys and I like the coaches," Hash said. "It’s like being back in the affiliates almost."
Hash went 1-for-4 on Saturday with a single and a run scored. One adjustment Hash will have to make is to the weather on the shores of Lake Erie compared to the hot South Texas climate.
"The weather is nice here," Hash said. "I liked the heat a little bit down there because you could stay loose. It’s a little cooler here."
Crushers manager John Massarelli said he wants to give Maragas time to fully heal and is eager to have a young player who has affiliate experience.
Hash is happy to come in and contribute.
"Hopefully I can just do whatever I can to help this team win and make some plays to make this team better."
After three games with the team, Hash has liked what he’s seen from the pitchers he’s seen.
"From the looks of it, it seems like we have the hardest-throwing guys. It looks like we have a good starting rotation and a good bullpen."
Arms dealing
Kevin Skogley left Saturday’s game with an undetermined arm injury, and the Crushers will not know the extent of the injury until today when he sees a doctor.
Whether or not Skogley has to miss any time, a move will likely be made because the Crushers have already been working with a four-man rotation.
"We’re probably going to have to get another starting pitcher aboard here soon," Massarelli said. "If for no other reason besides depth or if one of our guys would get picked up for affiliate ball."
The team has at least one player in mind, but couldn’t release a name Sunday because he hadn’t been signed.
Josh Faiola, who was converted to a reliever after struggling as a starter to begin the year, will stay in the bullpen, Massarelli said.
Since the move, Faiola has made four appearances and has yet to surrender a run in four innings pitched.
"He looks like a different guy," the Crushers’ first-year manager said. "He’s more comfortable. I think I’m going to keep him there."
Opposing hitters have reached base just twice in his bullpen appearances.
Star treatment
After Sunday’s game, five Crushers players and seven Rascals players jumped on a bus to Loves Park, Ill. for the Frontier League All-Star Game.
Pitcher Paul Fagan, third baseman Andrew Davis, designated hitter Gordon Gronkowski and outfielders Luke Hetherington and Tim Binkoski will represent Lake Erie for the East Division.
The Rascals will be represented on the West Division team by outfielders Chris Colton and Chad Maddox, third baseman Ryan Wehrle, shortstop Jorge Gutierrez and pitchers Jason Lowey, Josh Lowey and Jake Laber.
As his team begins the four-day break with a record of 25-22, Massarelli wasn’t satisfied with the season his team has had so far.
"I’m not going to set bars for the minimum," he said. "I’m going to set the bar where we’re trying to go. Nobody remembers the [first] half of last year."
One thing Massarelli wants to see in the second half is more consistent pitching to compliment his lineup.
"I think the hitting is going. We scored four runs [Saturday]. That’s right on the cusp of where you want to be," Massarelli said. "If you score five runs [every game] you should win every game."
The All-Star Game will be played on Wednesday at Road Ranger Stadium in Loves Park, Ill. at 7:05 p.m. It will be televised live on ComCast Sports Net.

River City Rascals at Lake Erie CrushersJul 12, 2009 at Avon, OH (All Pro Freight Stad)
River City Rascals 3 (30-17)
Player ab r h rbi bb so po a lob
Kevin Reynolds lf 4 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
JoJo Batten 2b 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 3 0
Chris Colton cf 5 0 1 0 0 1 3 0 1
Scott Robinson 1b 4 0 2 1 0 1 10 2 1
Ryan Groth rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1
Ryan Wehrle 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 2 2
Pete Paris dh 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 0
Joe Billick c 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 3
Joe Chavarria ss 1 2 1 0 0 0 4 2 0
Jorge Gutierrez ss 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals 33 3 7 2 3 4 27 12 9

Lake Erie Crushers 1 (25-22)
Player ab r h rbi bb so po a lob
Jodam Rivera ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0
Drew Saylor 2b 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 0
Andrew Davis 3b 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Luke Hetherington dh 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
Gordon Gronkowski 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 8 2 2
Jesse Gibson pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Arden McWilliams rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 0
Wayne Bond cf 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
Tim Binkoski lf 4 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 1
Brad Griffiths c 2 0 1 0 1 0 5 1 1
Totals 31 1 7 1 4 1 27 9 7
Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
River City Rascals.. 001 020 000 - 3 7 0
Lake Erie Crushers.. 000 000 100 - 1 7 2
-------------------------------------------
E - Rivera; Charry. DP - Rascals 1; Lake Erie 2. LOB - Rascals 9; Lake Erie 7. HBP - Battaen; Chavarria 2. SB - Battaen.
River City Rascals ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo go
Jake Laber W,6-2 7.0 6 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 24 27 8 9
Jake Edwards S,1 2.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 8 4 2

Lake Erie Crushers ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo go
Jorge L,0-2 5.1 6 3 1 2 3 2 2 3 0 22 27 8 4
Paul Fagan 1.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 5 5 1 2
Jacinto Gonell 2.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 7 4 2

Win - Laber (6-2). Loss - Charry (0-2). Save - Edwards (1). WP - Charry 2. HBP - by Charry (Chavarria); by Charry (Battaen); by Charry (Chavarria). BK - Charry 2. PB - Billick.
Umpires - HP: Jeremy Stangelo 1B: Chuck Stewart Start: 5:05 Time: 2:50 Attendance: 3496 Game notes: Due All Star Break pitchers TBA

AVON — Temperatures were only in the 70s during the Lake Erie Crushers’ 3-1 loss against the River City Rascals, but things got plenty heated in the top of the fifth inning.
After his pitcher Jorge Charry was called for his second balk of the game, Crushers manager John Massarelli came storming out of the dugout to argue with home plate umpire Jeremy Stangelo and was quickly ejected. It was the first time Massarelli was thrown out as the Crushers manager.
"It is what it is," Massarelli said of the incident after the game.
Once the game was back underway, play was stopped again when Jojo Batten was hit by a Charry pitch.
Batten took exception and Charry walked off the mound toward the plate before benches cleared, but cooler heads prevailed.
The Rascals (30-17) did all their damage on the scoreboard that inning, scoring two runs by taking advantage of two hit batsmen, a wild pitch and an error by shortstop Jodam Rivera, making it 3-0. The team’s only hit that inning came off the bat of first baseman Scott Robinson.
Unfortunately, that was about as exciting as things would get for the Crushers. Their lone run came in the bottom of the seventh when Tim Binkoski brought Arden McWilliams around on a two-out single.
The Crushers (25-22) had an early chance that came back to haunt them. In the second inning, Lake Erie loaded the bases with no outs and clean-up hitter Luke Hetherington coming to the plate.
But Hetherington grounded into a fielder’s choice to first base and Gordie Gronkowski followed with a 5-3 ground ball double-play to end the inning without a run.
That was the only real threat the Crushers had all day at the plate.
Rascals’ pitcher Jake Laber picked up the win after pitching seven solid innings.
His changeup was the main reason Lake Erie couldn’t get its bats going. Charry took the loss.
"We’ve got too much talent [to play this way]," Gronkowski said. "We’ve got to make some adjustments."
Pitching was the lone bright spot on the day for the Crushers. Charry hit three batters and made an error, but didn’t leave many pitches up in the strike zone.
All six hits he surrendered were singles and only one of his three runs was earned. He was relieved by Paul Fagan and Jacinto Gonell, who combined to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings.
"I was really happy with the way our pitchers all threw today," Massarelli said. "But the bottom line is that they outplayed us."
It was a disappointing 1-5 home stand for the Crushers, who take a four-game losing streak into the all-star break.
"We really could have gotten on top in the last six games coming home," Gronkowski said. "We’ve just got to clear our minds and come out here and put the last few games behind us."
"We’ve been scuffling the last week or so," Hetherington said. "It’ll be good to get a few days off so we can come back ready to play."
As for the rest of the team, Massarelli had one request.
"Get their minds on baseball," he said.
Lake Erie’s slump comes directly after it was on a 12-5 burst. But as Hetherington says, that’s baseball.
"Part of baseball is being able to turn the page. Every day is a new page," he said.
The Crushers’ season resumes Friday when they begin a six-game road trip against Gateway and River City.

River City Rascals vs Lake Erie Crushers (Jul 11, 2009)
Box score
Play-by-Play

Box Score
The Automated ScoreBookRiver City Rascals at Lake Erie CrushersJul 11, 2009 at Avon, OH (All Pro Freight Stad)
River City Rascals 6 (29-17)
Player ab r h rbi bb so po a lob
Jorge Gutierrez ss 4 0 2 0 1 1 0 7 0
JoJo Batten 2b 5 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 3
Chad Maddox rf 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0
Scott Robinson 1b 4 2 2 0 0 1 13 0 0
Chris Colton cf 4 1 2 2 0 0 1 0 0
Ryan Groth dh 4 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1
Danny Sawyer c 4 1 3 0 0 0 7 0 0
Andy Reilly 3b 4 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1
Kevin Reynolds lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Totals 36 6 12 4 1 4 27 11 5

Lake Erie Crushers 4 (25-21)
Player ab r h rbi bb so po a lob
Jodam Rivera ss 4 1 2 0 1 0 2 9 1
Drew Saylor 2b 5 0 2 0 0 0 3 3 0
Andrew Davis 3b 4 1 2 1 1 0 0 4 0
Luke Hetherington cf 4 0 0 0 1 4 2 0 0
Gordon Gronkowski dh 5 1 1 3 0 1 0 0 5
Tim Binkoski lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2
Eddy Tisdale 1b 4 0 1 0 0 0 13 0 0
Arden McWilliams rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 2
Kylee Hash c 4 1 1 0 0 1 4 0 0
Totals 38 4 11 4 3 7 27 18 10

Score by Innings R H E
-------------------------------------------
River City Rascals.. 010 014 000 - 6 12 0
Lake Erie Crushers.. 000 002 020 - 4 11 2
-------------------------------------------
E - Tisdale 2. DP - Lake Erie 3. LOB - Rascals 5; Lake Erie 10. 2B - Gutierrez; Robinson; Groth; Sawyer. HR - Gronkowski. HBP - Maddox. SB - Groth; Davis. CS - Groth.
River City Rascals ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo go
Jason Lowey W,3-0 6.0 4 2 2 2 4 0 0 0 0 22 24 4 10
Josh Rose 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 4 1 1
Tony Marsala 0.2 4 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 1
Lowey JA S,12 1.1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 7 1 2

Lake Erie Crushers ip h r er bb so wp bk hbp ibb ab bf fo go
Kevin Skogley L,3-2 5.0 10 5 5 0 1 1 1 1 0 22 23 4 6
Brian Chambers 2.0 2 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 8 9 1 4
Josh Faiola 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 3
Shannon Sprouse 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 3 1 0

Win - Lowey (3-0). Loss - Skogley (3-2). Save - Lowey JA (12). WP - Skogley; Chambers. HBP - by Skogley (Maddox). BK - Skogley. PB - Hash.
Umpires - HP: Chuck Steward 1B: Chuck Adya Start: 7:05 Time: 3;14 Attendance: 2416 Game notes: Tomorrows pitcher for River City is #19 Jake Laber and for Lake Erie is #21 Jorge Charry Skogley faced 3 batters in the 6th.

By MIKE PERRYmperry@MorningJournal.com

AVON — The Lake Erie Crushers probably wouldn’t mind at all to see River City pitcher Josh Lowey head back to the Rascals bullpen. For them, the All-Star break also can’t get here quick enough.
Lowey, making his third start of the season after 11 relief appearances, dominated the Crushers hitters, settling down after a pair of first-inning hits to slam the door on the Crusher offense in a 6-4 Rascals win. It was Lake Erie’s fourth loss in five games.
Lowey entered the game with a 2-0 record and a strong 1.85 ERA. He kept the Lake Erie lineup off balance all night, retiring 14 straight hitters at one point before newly-signed catcher Kylee Hash led off the top of the six by bouncing a single up the middle. With a fastball in the low to mid 80’s and two secondary pitches, Lowey didn’t overpower anyone Saturday, but he kept the Lake Erie guessing while his offense built a lead.
The Rascals (29-17) got on the board in the top of the second inning. Clean-up hitter Scott Robinson lead off with a perfectly placed bunt down the third-base line. Lake Erie starter Kevin Skogley balked him to second, on a disputed call by the home plate umpire, and scored on Donny Sawyer’s two-out double.
They added another run in the fourth when Sawyer led the frame off with a single, went to third on a well-executed hit-and-run single by Andy Reilly and scored when Kevin Reynolds grounded into a double play.
In the top of the sixth, the Rascals broke the game open, batting around and scoring four runs on four hits to push the lead out to 6-0.
In the bottom of the sixth the Crushers finally got to Lowey, pushing a pair of runs across on a pair of hits. Third baseman Andrew Davis drove in Hash with a bases-loaded walk while Gordie Gronkowski knocked Jodam Rivera home with a fielder’s choice.
Lowey went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked a pair and threw 72 pitches.
"He did a nice job … he threw strikes," Crushers manager John Massarelli said of Lowey. "I thought he was commanding the zone and had a lot of first-pitch strikes and had a lot of 0-2 counts. He did a nice job."
Skogley pitched five innings for the Crushers, surrendering five earned runs on 10 hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out one before leaving the game in the top of the sixth with an arm injury.
"He hurt his arm, other than that we won’t know until we see a doctor," Massarelli said. "He pitched pretty well. I don’t know if he was hurt before the sixth and pitching through it, knowing him probably, but he kept us in the ballgame."
Facing a big deficit, Lake Erie showed signs of life late. Gronkowski hit his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to center off Tony Marsala that bounced off Rascals’ center fielder Chris Colton’s glove and over the wall to bring the Crushers to within a pair of runs at 6-4.
Tim Binkowski followed with a single to right before a base hit to left by Eddie Tisdale put the tying runs on base and send Marsala to the showers, but Rascals manager Chad Parker had another Lowey to call on. He brought in Jason Lowey, River City’s closer and twin brother of the starter Josh Lowey, to slam the door.
Lowey got Arden McWilliams to ground out meekly to first baseman Scott Robinson to end the threat.
Lake Erie would fight until the final out. In the bottom of the ninth, with Lowey still on the mound, the Crushers loaded the bases on one-out singles by Rivera and Drew Saylor and a two-out walk by Luke Hetherington. But Gronkowski struck out looking to end the game.
"Instead of putting the pressure on late we have to come out early and score some runs to help out pitchers out," Gronkowski said. "If we play behind all year, obviously, we’re not going to be successful. Yeah, we’re battling back and fighting to the end, but we have to start doing that in the first inning.
"Once we start doing that we’re going to be an unbelievable team."
With Saturday’s loss the Crushers (25-21) guarantee a losing nine-game home stand heading into the All-Star break. After taking two of three against Florence, Lake Erie lost two of three to Gateway and have dropped the first two of a three-game set to the Rascals.

Lake Erie right-handed pitcher Josh Faiola has been moved to the bullpen indefinitely according to Crushers manager John Massarelli, who plans on going to a four-man rotation until the All-Star break.
Faiola, who was scheduled to pitch Saturday against the Florence Freedom, will be replaced by Brent Lysander (3-0, 4.46) as the No. 2 arm in the rotation with Kevin Skogley (2-1, 5.08) moving up one spot.
Assuming the rotation stays as it is, that means Brad Davidson (1-1, 5.48) and Jorge Charry will fight for the fourth spot.
Faiola, who earned national attention early in the season, has struggled in his last two starts. The righty has a 1-5 mark with a 8.17 earned run average.
On Monday he lasted three innings, allowing five earned runs on five hits with one strikeout. He also gave up two home runs in the 6-4 loss to Traverse City.
In his previous start, Faiola went three innings against Kalamazoo, taking the loss in an 11-9 game against Kalamazoo.
The Kings roughed Faiola up for seven earned runs on seven hits with a walk and a strikeout.

Lake Erie 3, Midwest 1

Lake Erie 000 030 0 -- 3 7 0
Midwest 100 000 0 -- 1 5 0
Lake Erie (22-16)
AB R H RBI
Rivera SS 4 0 1 0
Saylor 2B 2 0 0 1
Davis 3B 3 0 1 0
Hetherngtn RF 3 0 1 0
Gronkowski DH 3 1 1 1
Binkoski LF 3 1 1 0
Tisdale 1B 2 0 0 0
Bond CF 1 1 1 0
Maragas C 2 0 1 1
TOTALS 23 3 7 3

Midwest (15-22)

AB R H RBI
Pace CF 3 0 1 0
Mena SS 3 0 0 0
Baker 1B 2 1 2 1
Zayas 3B 3 0 0 0
Deluca DH 2 0 2 0
McCord PR 0 0 0 0
Brodin LF 3 0 0 0
Bonner 2B 2 0 0 0
Knoble RF 2 0 0 0
Barrone C 2 0 0 0
TOTALS 22 1 5 1
DP--LAKE ERIE 4, MIDWEST 1. LOB--LAKE ERIE 4, MIDWEST 2. 3B--A.Davis (5). HR--Gronkowski (8), J.Baker (9). SB--T.Binkoski (5). CS--W.Bond. HBP--S.Deluca. SF--A.Saylor. SH--E.Tisdale.

Lake Erie

IP H R ER BB SO
Davidson W, (1-1) 5.0 3 1 1 0 1
Gonell (S, 7) 2.0 2 0 0 1 2

Midwest

IP H R ER BB SO
Kearcher L, (1-5) 6.1 7 3 3 3 4
Oakes 0.2 0 0 0 0 1
HB--B.Davidson. T: 1:51. A: 573.

Lake Erie 6, Midwest 4

Lake Erie 201 201 0 -- 6 8 0

Midwest 000 220 0-- 4 13 1

Lake Erie (21-16)

AB R H RBI
Rivera SS 4 1 1 0
Saylor 2B 4 0 0 1
Davis 3B 3 2 2 2
Hetherngtn RF 3 0 1 0
Gronkowski DH 3 1 1 0
J. Gibson PR 0 1 0 0
Binkoski LF 3 1 1 0
Tisdale 1B 3 0 1 1
Bond CF 3 0 0 1
Griffiths C 3 0 1 0
TOTALS 29 6 8 5

Midwest (15-21)

AB R H RBI
Pace CF 4 1 3 0
Mena SS 4 1 2 0
Baker DH 3 0 1 1
Knapp 1B 4 0 1 1
Deluca 2B 4 1 1 0
Zayas 3B 4 1 3 2
Bonner LF 3 0 1 0
Brodin PH 1 0 0 0
Knoble RF 3 0 1 0
Barrone C 3 0 0 0
TOTALS 33 4 13 4
E--G.Zayas. DP--LAKE ERIE 0, MIDWEST 0. LOB--LAKE ERIE 2, MIDWEST 9. 2B--Gronkowski (6), T.Binkoski (7), R.Mena (7), J.Knoble (7). 3B--J.Rivera (2). HR--A.Davis 2 (9), G.Zayas (3). SB--R.Mena (8), J.Knoble (12). SF--J.Baker.

Lake Erie

IP H R ER BB SO
Skogley W, (2-1) 5.0 9 4 4 0 6
Sprouse (S, 2) 2.0 4 0 0 0 3

Midwest

IP H R ER BB SO
Penn L, (3-4) 7.0 8 6 4 0 6
WP--K.Skogley. BALKS--M.Penn. T: 2:06, A: 573.