Janeen and her husband Kevin Sweeney saw the event on Facebook and decided to take on the new year with a new challenge. First timers to cold water events, they were ready to get in the water but were not looking forward to getting out of it.

“It’s something totally out of our comfort zone,” Kevin Sweeney said. “We thought, new year, new beginnings, and that’s kind of all tied together and that’s why were here. Something new to do that we’ve never done before.”

“I’m very nervous,” Janeen Sweeney said. “But we have our strategy for when we get out, get into the car, turn on the heated seats and get home as fast as we can.”

Sean Powers was waiting in line wearing a Winnie the Poo onesie with a Rick and Morty robe underneath. He says he was wearing the outfit because he purchased the onesie for Halloween and wanted a reason to wear it again, although he will be taking the outfit off first, he said he’s glad to have brought something warm for the aftermath of the plunge.

“I’m new to the town and this is the first time I’ve been able to do it and it’s for a good cause,” Powers said. “I wanted to start the new year off with a challenge and I don’t think there’s much better way than jumping in freezing cold water.”

“I’ve jumped in cold water before but never a lake in January,” Powers added. “So, it’s going to be new for me. I got this outfit for Halloween, today seems like a perfect day for it.”

Lee Negrelli, board member for arts and cultural alliance, says she is happy with the turnout. She said it looked as if they would be able to pay for the safety services present and also pay for some of the costs of future events., in total the event ended up raising over $2,000.

“This is a way bigger turnout than what we expected,” Negrelli said. “We were hoping to even break even with paying the EMTs and all that, but we are turning a profit. It’s amazing.

“We are using the event as a fundraiser for the other events that we do. We have a Winterfest and also a summer concert series live at the lighthouse, but the money will be used to go for the bands and activities and all the other things that make our events super awesome. We have to pay for a photo booth, alcohol, permits, but it will be used. Most of it going to local businesses.” Negrelli added.

Those taking part in the plunge were lined up at Lake Erie’s shore in five groups. At staggered times calls from a loudspeaker let people know when to start running into the cold water. Some immediately ran back to shore seeking the comfort of blankets and hot coco, while others swam out to where two members of Fairport Harbors Fire Department were standing chest high in water.

Powers, who removed his Winnie the Poo outfit revealing swimming trunks. Says that he was happy he took part in the experience and that he made it almost as far as the lifeguards, but not quite.

“I feel more refreshed and ready to take on the year and I want to do it again next year,” Powers said. “But man, as soon as that water hits you are like ‘why am I doing this?’ You can’t wait to get back out.

“I went under —  you have to do that if you’re going in the water, you know? But I went to just about as far as the lifeguards are at. I was a few feet away and there was a wave coming and I said, ‘that’s good enough!’ ”

For those that did not want to get in the water, but still want a taste of winter, Fairport Harbor Arts and Culture Alliance will be hosting Winterfest at Veterans Memorial Park on Jan. 27. According to its website three live bands will be playing along with winter crafts, a warming area, food trucks, along with beer and cocktails. More information about future events can be found at www.fhaca.org

The 2015 Brookside graduate is now right down the road from his high school after signing with the Lake Erie Crushers.

“It’s definitely really exciting to be able to play close to home,” Pierson said. “I grew up watching some Crushers games and now I’m a Crusher myself. It’ll be cool to play in front of friends and family.”

After graduating from Brookside, Pierson played four years at Notre Dame College and has now played five years professionally. He pitched in the Pecos League and American Association before winding up in the Frontier League in 2021 with the Southern Illinois Miners.

He has played with the Washington Wild Things and Quebec Capitales since, helping Quebec repeat as Frontier League champions this past season. He went 2-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 2023.

The Crushers showed interest in the lefty following the season, and his manager in Quebec gave him the option to stay with the team or make the move to Lake Erie. He decided to come home.

“He was very nice about it, he left it up to me whether I wanted to return to Quebec or if I wanted to go with Lake Erie,” Pierson said. “I made the decision to take the opportunity to play close to home.”

Pierson has played all over the place since his college days ended in 2019. However, he didn’t expect that he would get this chance to play in Lorain County once again. He couldn’t happier that Lake Erie showed interest.

Playing in front of his friends and family is important for Pierson, but playing in this area has always been special to him. He gives pitching lessons to kids in the area and knows how much they look up to the players. Once upon a time, he was one of them.

“I think what’s special about it for me is I grew up playing here,” Pierson said. “I played high school ball here and now I get to play in front of those kids that are once where I used to be. It’ll be cool to be a role model for the little kids and all of the kids that I give lessons to as well. They can come up and watch me pitch during the summer now, so it’ll be a lot of fun.”

On the baseball side of it, this will be Pierson’s fourth season in the Frontier League and he has gotten better every year. His ERA has gone down each season while his playing time has gone up. He has experience winning at this level and pitching against these players in these stadiums.

Pierson is also looking to do his part to help the Crushers get over the hump. The team has had its ups and downs over the past few seasons, and he wants to help change that.

“I want to come in and make an impact,” Pierson said. “I just came off a championship run with Quebec and that was a lot of fun. I’ve been there, I’ve tasted it, I know what it’s like. I’m hoping I can bring a little bit of experience and presence to the clubhouse.”

“Not that I’m going to make all the difference, but hopefully my experience and some of my leadership qualities can help translate and get a run going this year for the Lake Erie Crushers.”

MADISON, Wis. — The Great Lakes’ frigid fresh water used to keep shipwrecks so well preserved that divers could see dishes in the cupboards. Downed planes that spent decades underwater were left so pristine they could practically fly again when archaeologists finally discovered them.

Now, an invasive mussel is destroying shipwrecks deep in the depths of the lakes, forcing archeologists and amateur historians into a race against time to find as many sites as they can before the region touching eight U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario loses any physical trace of its centuries-long maritime history.

“What you need to understand is every shipwreck is covered with quagga mussels in the lower Great Lakes,” Wisconsin state maritime archaeologist Tamara Thomsen said. “Everything. If you drain the lakes, you’ll get a bowl of quagga mussels.”

Quagga mussels, finger-sized mollusks with voracious appetites, have become the dominant invasive species in the lower Great Lakes over the past 30 years, according to biologists.

The creatures have covered virtually every shipwreck and downed plane in all of the lakes except Lake Superior, archaeologists say. The mussels burrow into wooden vessels, building upon themselves in layers so thick they will eventually crush walls and decks. They also produce acid that can corrode steel and iron ships. No one has found a viable way to stop them.

Wayne Lusardi, Michigan’s state maritime archaeologist, is pushing to raise more pieces of a World War II plane flown by a Tuskegee airman that crashed in Lake Huron in 1944.

“Divers started discovering (planes) in the 1960s and 1970s,” he said. “Some were so preserved they could fly again. (Now) when they’re removed the planes look like Swiss cheese. (Quaggas are) literally burning holes in them.”

Quagga mussels, native to Russia and Ukraine, were discovered in the Great Lakes in 1989, around the same time as their infamous cousin species, zebra mussels. Scientists believe the creatures arrived via ballast dumps from transoceanic freighters making their way to Great Lakes ports.

Unlike zebra mussels, quaggas are hungrier, hardier and more tolerant of colder temperatures. They devour plankton and other suspended nutrients, eliminating the base level of food chains. They consume so many nutrients at such high rates they can render portions of the murky Great Lakes as clear as tropical seas. And while zebra mussels prefer hard surfaces, quaggas can attach to soft surfaces at greater depths, enabling them to colonize even the lakes’ sandy bottoms.

After 30 years of colonization, quaggas have displaced zebra mussels as the dominant mussel in the Great Lakes. Zebras made up more than 98% of mussels in Lake Michigan in 2000, according to the University of California, Riverside’s Center for Invasive Species Research. Five years later, quaggas represented 97.7%.

For wooden and metal ships, the quaggas’ success has translated into overwhelming destruction.

The mussels can burrow into sunken wooden ships, stacking upon themselves until details such as name plates and carvings are completely obscured. Divers who try to brush them off inevitably peel away some wood. Quaggas also can create clouds of carbon dioxide, as well as feces that corrode iron and steel, accelerating metal shipwrecks’ decay.

Quaggas have yet to establish a foothold in Lake Superior. Biologists believe the water there contains less calcium, which quaggas need to make their shells, said Dr. Harvey Bootsma, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.

That means the remains of the Edmund Fitzgerald, a freighter that went down in that lake during a storm in 1975 and was immortalized in the Gordon Lightfoot song, “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” are safe, at least for now.

Lusardi, Michigan’s state maritime archaeologist, ticked off a long list of shipwreck sites in the lower Great Lakes consumed by quaggas.

His list included the Daniel J. Morrel, a freighter that sank during a storm on Lake Huron in 1966, killing all but one of the 29 crew members, and the Cedarville, a freighter that sank in the Straits of Mackinac in 1965, killing eight crew members. He also listed the Carl D. Bradley, another freighter that went down during a storm in northern Lake Michigan in 1958, killing 33 sailors.

The plane Lusardi is trying to recover is a Bell P-39 that went down in Lake Huron during a training exercise in 1944, killing Frank H. Moody, a Tuskegee airman. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of Black military pilots who received training at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama during World War II.

Brendon Baillod, a Great Lakes historian based in Madison, has spent the last five years searching for the Trinidad, a grain schooner that went down in Lake Michigan in 1881. He and fellow historian Bob Jaeck finally found the wreck in July off Algoma, Wisconsin.

The first photos of the site, taken by a robot vehicle, showed the ship was in unusually good shape, with intact rigging and dishes still in cabins. But the site was “fully carpeted” with quagga mussels, Baillod said.

“It has been completely colonized,” he said. “Twenty years ago, even 15 years ago, that site would have been clean. Now you can’t even recognize the bell. You can’t see the nameboard. If you brush those mussels off, it tears the wood off with it.”

Quagga management options could include treating them with toxic chemicals; covering them with tarps that restrict water flow and starve them of oxygen and food; introducing predator species; or suffocating them by adding carbon dioxide to the water.

So far nothing looks promising on a large scale, UW-Milwaukee’s Bootsma said.

“The only way they will disappear from a lake as large as Lake Michigan is through some disease, or possibly an introduced predator,” he said.

That leaves archaeologists and historians like Baillod scrambling to locate as many wrecks as possible to map and document before they disintegrate under the quaggas’ assaults.

At stake are the physical remnants of a maritime industry that helped settle the Great Lakes region and establish port cities such as Milwaukee, Detroit, Chicago and Toledo, Ohio.

“When we lose those tangible, preserved time capsules of our history, we lose our tangible connection to the past,” Baillod said. “Once they’re gone, it’s all just a memory. It’s all just stuff in books.”

Sandusky: Floating village of tiny houseboats going up this summer

The two organizations will host a fundraiser Sept. 23 to benefit the Lake Erie Foundation and its efforts to keep Ohio's Great Lake clean.

Olivia Hartley, operations director for SoLSTAY, said the event will feature a variety of local businesses.

"We will have a silent auction and lots of raffle items from local businesses," Hartley said. "Some of the businesses that have already donated raffle items, include Shores & Islands, tthe African Safari Wildlife Park, Miller Ferry and Doughin' Crazy, and more are in the works."

Raffle prizes include gift packs from the Cleveland Guardians, as well as coolers from Yeti and other items, SoLSTAY owner Joseph Lisa said.

Seeing as part of SoLSTAY sits on the lakefront, the two organizations have similar goals in mind, Lisa said.

"This particular property is a mixture of cottages and floating houseboats," he said. "Lake Erie Foundation as a whole, they're obviously trying to make Lake Erie better and continue to help clean and purify Lake Erie, and make it something that can be enjoyed for generations."

Lisa said it was a no-brainer to hold the fundraiser.

Hartley said the event will feature food as well as live music from The Forgotten Band.

Rounding things out, the event will have a food truck The Strawberry Cow, which features flavors from Sandusky-based creamery Toft Dairy.

Lisa spoke on the importance of making SoLSTAY and, by extension, the Lake Erie Foundation an important piece of the Sandusky community.

Beyond local recognition, the two organizations hope to drive conversation about keeping the lake clean for future generations, he said.

"It's important as a whole to be a part of the local community," he said. "We get people from Spain; we get people from Australia.

"Just being part of the local community ... Is super important to us because we live here, too, you know."

The SoLSTAY fundraiser for the Lake Erie Foundation will take place from 4 to 7 p.m.

The event is free and the public is welcome.

If necessary, a rain date is set for Sept. 17, the release said.

Classic Car Show registration starts at 9 a.m., and the first 200 cars will receive a dash plaque and goodie bag, according to the release from Lorie A. Wilber, president and founder of Partners With Paws, which is sponsoring the event.

Drawings for $25 gift cards will be given away to car show attendees every 30 minutes, the release said.

The Pet Expo begins at 10 a.m. in the service garage, which will be filled with animal rescue organizations, some featuring adoptable pets, the release said.

There will be vendors including Babcia’s Kitchen, Awesome Gyros, Krooked Kitchen and Toft’s Ice Cream.

The event will include a 50/50 and basket raffle, with four baskets with a $50 bill hidden inside, sponsored by Schlather Insurance of Elyria and Wellington, according to the release.

All proceeds raised at this year’s Cause 4 Paws will benefit Partners With Paws as it assists over 25 animal rescue groups in Lorain County and beyond, when the need is great, according to the release.

For more information, call Wilber at 440-897-8696 or email lawilber@oberlin.net.

Having zero hits until the seventh inning, the Crushers nearly battled back from a 6-0 deficit, but were defeated by the Schaumburg Boomers, 6-4, on Aug. 17.

The Frontier League made sure to get this series finale in with the visiting Boomers fighting for playoff contention. An already long night was made much longer for the Crushers (32-49). The delay was announced right before game time and both teams had to wait it out.

“You got to have some resolve and stay ready. It’s something that happens in this game, and the old saying is ‘hurry up and wait’ in baseball,” Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. “Tonight was one of those nights.”

Another short rain delay happened in the sixth inning, and most of the fans had left the stadium at the point. There was no buzz in Mercy Health Stadium, and it seemed impossible for the Crushers to even be in this game. A home run each in the seventh and eighth innings helped them get back in it, but it was too deep of a hole out of which to climb.

The Boomers got off to a fast start. Alec Craig led off the game with a single, and Chase Dawson smashed a two-run homer into right field two batters later. He scored the winning run in the 11-inning game the night before and picked up right where he left off.

Schaumburg’s bats continued rolling in the third inning against Crushers pitcher Jonaiker Villalobos. Travis Holt led off with a single, and Dawson notched his second hit of the game on the next at-bat. Both runners advanced on an error, and Holt scored following a sacrifice RBI from Gaige Howard. With two outs, Dawson scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead to 4-0.

It was the same story in the fourth with two singles to begin the inning from Zach Huffins and Will Prater. John Fiorenza flew out to right field, but got the sacrifice RBI as Huffins crossed home plate.

If the 90-minute delay wasn’t enough to start the game, the rain came down in the sixth inning to cause another short one. At this point, the Boomers led, 5-0, and were outhitting the Crushers, 10-0. Even with new Lake Erie pitcher Shane Gustafson entering the game, the base hits continued for Schaumburg. Another run was tacked on with an RBI single from Kokko Figueiredo.

Finally in the seventh inning, the Crushers got their first hit. Boomers pitcher Luis Perez was lights out until Sean Cheely connected on a ball to right field. Huffins had a chance to catch it out there at the warning track, but Cheely was rewarded a hit.

It was close to being an error, but Jackson Pritchard left no doubt of the no-hitter on the next at-bat with a two-run blast to get Lake Erie on the board. Kenen Irizarry also carried a deep ball into right field, but was just shy of the wall and caught for the third out. Perez’s night was done after the seventh.

Even with nearly no fans in the stadium, the Crushers weren’t done just yet. After the Boomers took out Perez in favor of reliever Jake Joyce, the hits were coming.

Scout Knotts led off the bottom of the eighth with a walk and advanced to third on two straight groundouts. The two-out rally started in a big way with a two-run home run from Jarrod Watkins to cut the deficit to 6-4. Both Cheely and Pritchard then hit singles to put the tying run on base.

“Their starting pitcher did a very good job — you have to tip your cap. He held us at bay all the way until the seventh,” Lemieux said. “But it was nice to see us fight back a little bit and keep swinging it. We hit some other balls hard, but they just didn’t find the ground. That’s how close this game ended up being.”

Joyce then beaned pinch hitter Zach Racusin on the first pitch of the at-bat to load the bases. Back to the top of the order with Jiandido Tromp, he got a hold of one of those swings that Lemieux mentioned, but it was caught in center field to retire the side.

With one last chance in the ninth, the game ended fittingly with the Crushers’ bats coming up empty. Dylan Stutsman picked up the save for the Boomers by striking out the side.

Lake Erie is back at home for a weekend series against the Gateway Grizzlies. The first game begins at 7:05 p.m. Aug. 18.

Both teams remained tied at 5-5 after 10 innings, so the Crushers (32-48) got to pick to hit or field in the 11th. Only playing one half inning, the batting team would win with a score, and the fielding team would win by getting three outs before a run scores.

Lake Erie put the ball in the hand of closer Sam Curtis, but the Boomers came through as Kokko Figueiredo drove in the game winner with a sacrifice RBI.

The batting team starts with a runner on first, and a hit from Blake Grant-Parks got Chase Dawson to third. After a steal at second, Blake Berry was intentionally walked to load the bases. Figueriedo came up next and flew out to left field, but Dawson scored to win the game.

“It’s basically a 50-50 draw and we had our closer ready,” Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. “He was throwing earlier and he wanted the ball, so you give him the ball. Curtis is a good player, but unfortunately, they got him tonight. That’s baseball.”

Going to extra innings says it all about how good of a game it was, but it was back-and-forth throughout. The Crushers got off to a good start in the bottom of the first with two straight singles from Jiandido Tromp and Zach Racusin.

The next three batters got out, but Tromp scored on a wild pitch. It didn’t take long for the Boomers to get the run back as Zach Huffins scored Dawson on a fielder’s choice RBI in the top of the second.

Josh Rego gave Lake Erie the lead back in the bottom of the third with an RBI single. Kenen Irizarry hit a single to get on base, and he scored from second on Rego’s hit. Trying to go for the double, Rego was thrown out at second.

The Crushers were playing clean baseball until a costly fifth inning put them behind. Schaumburg got seven batters up in the fifth and scored three runs to take a two-run lead. Two runners got on to start the inning as Figueiredo drew a walk and Huffins singled. Alec Craig also drew a walk to load the bases with zero outs. Travis Holt connected on a two-RBI base hit to give the Boomers the lead, and Craig scored on a throwing error to clear the bases.

“We bounced back after making a little miscue and tied the ball game up,” Lemieux said. “We had guys on base and the meat of the lineup at the plate, but we just didn’t get the job done tonight.”

Lake Erie came back up in the bottom of the fifth and got a run back. Rego notched another RBI single to score Racusin. Sean Cheely connected on an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to tie it at 4-4.

The Crushers had the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth after two walks and a hit by pitch only needing a run to win. However, after being the hero the night prior, Hector Roa popped out to first to end the inning.

Starting the 10th inning with a runner on second, both teams got them home for a run each. Holt had the big hit in the fifth, and he came through again in the 10th for the Boomers. He hit an RBI single with two outs to score Huffins.

Staring at a one-run deficit, the Crushers needed at least one run to extend the game. Jarrod Watkins led off with a single, getting Roa to third. Two batters later, John Tuccillo grounded out, but got the RBI as Roa scored. With another potential game-winning run in scoring position, Collin Mathews struck out to end the 10th.

Curtis was warming up in the bullpen, so Lemieux went to him to close out the game. The Boomers won after that, and now the series is up for grabs in the third and final game. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. on Aug. 17.

“It was a good baseball battle, someone had to win,” Lemieux said. “They had a big hit there in the 11th and we had (Curtis) ready to go. They just took the swings they needed to win tonight.”

Hector Roa’s two-RBI double in the bottom of the first gave the Crushers (32-47) the lead for good in a 3-1 win over the Schaumburg Boomers (45-33) on Aug. 15. This was their fifth win in the past seven games starting with that wild win over Washington last week.

“The boys are playing good ball. I’m just happy to see it,” Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. “They deserve it. They’ve earned the ability to play good ball with their work ethic. It’s nice to see them perform well.”

The first two Crusher batters, Jiandido Tromp and Zach Racusin, were retired to start the bottom of the first inning. Scout Knotts was hit in the hand on the next at-bat by Boomers pitcher Jackson Hickert, and that started the two-out rally. Josh Rego hit a single next to put two runners on, and Roa did the rest by beating the right fielder for a two-RBI double to the wall.

“It’s very important to jump out in the first inning and set the tone,” Roa said. “It feels good putting the ball on the barrel and just letting the ball do its job. I’m just trying to do my part as a veteran for this team and score runs for them.”

Other than Roa’s hit, it was a quiet game. Both teams left a couple of runners in scoring position, but it was very solid pitching. Matt Mulhearn took the mound for Lake Erie and pitched an excellent outing of seven scoreless innings. He took advantage of Roa’s hit in the first.

Mulhearn only gave up four hits, and he struck out six Boomers. Schaumburg had runners on the corners in the third inning, but he struck out Alec Craig and forced Travis Holt to pop out to second base.

“He commanded all of his pitches well today. He stayed ahead in the count most of the time,” Lemieux said of Mulhearn. “He avoided making mistakes over the middle of the plate, and he’s tough to hit when he does that.”

In the sixth inning, the Crushers were able to produce their third run to give the pitching staff more breathing room. Roa delivered again with another double and wound up scoring the run. An RBI single from Kenen Irizarry with two outs got him home. Overall for the game, Roa finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI.

“Hector’s been great since he showed up. He’s brought some energy to this team, and that’s good to see,” Lemieux said.

After Mulhearn’s night was done, Darren Ragins and Sam Curtis finished the game. Ragins pitched the eighth while Curtis got the save in the ninth. Schaumburg made it interesting for a little bit, however, as a solo home run from Gaige Howard got his team on the board. Blake Berry followed it up with a single to put the tying run at the plate. However, Curtis stepped up and got the job done. Kokko Figueiredo and Zach Huffins both flew out to end the game.

The Crushers and Boomers will be back at Mercy Health Stadium to do it again for the next two nights. First pitch for the next game is at 7:05 p.m. Aug. 16.

Without a victory since July 26, the Crushers won on their home field over the Washington Wild Things, 2-1, in 10 innings on Aug. 8.

Standing on second as the game-winning run, Jarrod Watkins tagged to third on a fly out by Drue Galassi. The throw from left field hit Watkins in the helmet as he was sliding into third, and the ball bounced all the way to the backstop. He took advantage of the play and was safe at the plate.

“I tagged up and I saw him in a position that if he threw the ball perfectly and it didn’t my head, then I’d be out,” Watkins said. “He threw it off the bag where I couldn’t slide or get away. I’m glad that it happened.”

It was a grind-it-out game for Lake Erie (28-45), and there couldn’t have been a crazier way to get a win on the board. Through the struggles of the 10-game skid, the Crushers stayed the course and continued to stay in the fight. A lot of pressure fell off the players’ shoulders.

“It’s been a tough week, but it really helped being in front of our home fans,” Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. “Angelo pitched a great game, and we did enough to get the win.”

Both starting pitchers threw well in this one, and the offenses had to work for everything. Baez and Washington’s Zach Kirby both threw seven innings and allowed one run each.

The Crushers got on the board first in the bottom of the fifth with a sacrifice RBI from Jiandido Tromp. Watkins scored both of the teams’ runs as he tagged up and scored from Tromp’s flyout. Back-to-back singles from Watkins and Josh Rego kicked the inning off, and Lake Erie took advantage.

Washington evened the score back up at 1-1 in the top of the seventh. Wagner Lagrange led off the inning with a single, and an infield single from Andrew Czech put two runners on. Scotty Dubrule drove in the tying run with an RBI single, but the Crushers were able to prevent more damage.

On a ground ball to Watkins at shortstop, he threw out Czech at home to save another run. In all facets of the game, he was lights out for the Crushers.

“As a defender, baseball is a hard thing, especially hitting,” he said. “Anything I can do to help the pitchers and help my team, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Neither team could produce anything offensively until the 10th inning when each team started with a runner on second base. Carson Clowers advanced to third for the Wild Things, but we got caught in a pickle and was thrown out. Watkins sealed the deal in the bottom half to win it for Lake Erie.

“Baseball can kick you down sometimes, and that’s what it did to us,” Watkins said. “This was a big one for us. It showed us that we can persevere and try to win ball games.”

The Crushers are back hosting Washington at 7:05 p.m. on Aug. 9.

They trailed visiting Tri-City, 5-0, after two innings, but rallied to make it a two-run game after five. But the comeback was crushed by the ValleyCats, 7-3, on July 29.

The Crushers (27-38) have dropped the first two games of the three-game home series. The ValleyCats improved to 41-24 and are the top team in the Frontier League East Division. They extended their winning streak to six games.

PHOTOS: Crushers vs. Tri-City, July 29, 2023

The Crushers' slow start conceded five runs in the first two innings. However, pitcher Yasel Santana (2-5) settled in to shut out the ValleyCats in the final four innings of his outing.

"They didn't give up, that's for sure. I thought Yasel (Santana), after the first couple of innings settled in nicely. We gave ourselves a chance (to win)," Crushers Manager Jared Lemieux said.

The team began to click in the fourth and fifth innings and scored three runs. Right fielder Jack Harris scored on a wild pitch in the fourth. Sam Frontino walked and was brought home by Zach Racusin's single. A fielder's choice in Harris' at-bat scored another run.

"I felt like we were putting fairly competitive at-bats together, we just didn't have anything barreled up (early in the game). I want the ball to be screaming around the ballpark and we weren't able to do that," Lemieux said.

The damage done by the ValleyCats early on was too much. Pavin Parks recorded three runs, two hits and two RBI. Jakob Godlfarb led Tri-City with three RBI and three hits. Juan Kelley produced one of the two ninth-inning runs with an RBI double.

The Crushers will play their third and final game against the ValleyCats on July 30.

Hammer time

Crushers ace J.D. Hammer was picked up by the Los Angeles Angels organization.

"I am really happy for (Hammer)," Lemieux said. "He deserves it as much as anybody. I know that was a goal of his to work toward, as is with a lot of these guys in the locker room. It is nice to see a guy that works as hard as he does and as good of a teammate as he is get recognized for that."

Hammer pitched for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019 and 2021. He made 19 appearances for the Crushers this season, including nine starts. He was 3-3 with a 3.46 ERA. He pitched 52 innings, striking out 46 and walking 20.