Although the nickname “Crushers” isn’t meant to have any baseball connection, the team lived up to its name at the plate on the recent six-game homestand.
With a 4-2 record at home this past week, including all four wins coming in a row, the Crushers (13-14) battled back after looking down and out. Against the Sussex County Miners and Windy City Thunderbolts in two three-game series, Lake Erie was finally able to get the bats going.
Even just earlier in the week, a low-scoring output wasn’t out of the ordinary. In the first game against Sussex County on June 6, the Crushers only put up one run and had just lost for the 11th time in 14 games. They were deadlocked with Windy City at the bottom of the West standings and after that game as well, but something changed.
“We played as a team,” Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. “We started doing the little things right, and we put together good at-bats. That’s what we need to continue to do here.”
Lake Erie’s pitching and defense wasn’t the problem during that stretch, and while the team remains under .500 currently, the bats were what needed to come alive.
The Miners are having a solid start to the season as the East leaders, and the Crushers were able to create some momentum with two wins to take the series. With 4-1 and 4-3 victories over the final two games, it was only the third and fourth time since May 25 that the Crushers had put up four or more runs.
In those two games, Jack Harris and Gabe Snyder both hit home runs. Todd Isaacs Jr. added two extra-base hits in the second game, and Jarrod Watkins also had an RBI.
“I thought from the beginning of the series on Tuesday that we were all clicking, swinging the bat, having good at-bats,” Watkins said. “We’ve been taking pitches, taking our walks and trying to get the next man up. I think that’s helped us.”
Finally with a positive feeling around them, it was a welcoming sight for the Crushers to have the last-place Thunderbolts come into town. Harris kept his hot streak with a home run in both of the two Lake Erie victories to start the series. Snyder hit an RBI double in the 5-2 win June 9 and Kenen Irizarry also tacked one on.
In the second game, Harris, Irizarry and Mike Blanke hit three straight home runs to help power the Crushers to an 8-3 win June 10. Watkins also had two RBI doubles for the game, which led to the team’s highest run total since May 16.
“I think we’re kind of clicking on all cylinders right now,” Watkins said. “Our pitching’s good, our hitting’s good and our defense has been there. When we put those all together, it’s a good recipe for a win.”
Despite the 3-0 loss to Windy City in the season finale, the Crushers are back on level footing after finding themselves four games below .500 just one week ago. Going back just seven days ago to the loss against Sussex County, a loss with no runs would’ve felt like a regular occurrence. However, with the confidence built over the past four games, this one seemed like an anomaly.
“I think we’ll continue to play well. Today was a little hiccup,” Lemieux said of the loss J,une 11. “Baseball’s a hard game and sometimes it doesn’t work in your favor.”
After finding their bats at Mercy Health Stadium, the Crushers will now try to do it on the road this week. They begin their first series of the week on June 13 at the Tri-City ValleyCats. Lake Erie will close out the road trip with a weekend series at the New York Boulders.
