AVON – The Lake Erie Crushers have won three straight games to sweep the visiting Windy City ThunderBolts, and Craig Hertler offered a helping hand.
Hertler crafted a 3-for-4 evening as the Crushers swept the Windy City ThunderBolts with a 6-0 win at home Aug. 1.
The Crushers scored first in their share of the third inning. Trevor Stevens reached on an infield single to second and came around to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Andrew Davis.
Joey Burney advanced the lead in the fourth inning with a single to score Juan Sanchez. Ryan Hutchison drew a walk and advanced to third on Burney’s hit before Stevens sent a sacrifice fly to right to score Hutchison for the 3-0 lead.
Hertler led off the 5th inning with a triple on a ball that skipped beneath ThunderBolts’ left fielder Kyle Robinson.During the next at-bat, Hertler trotted home on a wild pitch for the 4-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Crushers starter Zac Treece lasted five innings, surrendering three hits and two walks as he fanned four.
Hertler’s night rolled on in the sixth inning as he picked up an RBI single to score Kevin Franchetti, who reached base on a walk.
Emmanuel Quiles followed in repeat fashion with an RBI single of his own to propel the Crushers to the 6-0 lead.
Brad Zambron, who relieved Treece, recorded two strikeouts in the seventh inning before giving way to Jordan McCoy for the eighth.
McCoy, however, issued a single and a walk without recording an out. Trevor Longfellow bailed his teammate out to retire the side and prevent any Windy City damage through the 8th and ninth innings, sealing Longfellow’s season ERA at 1.47.
Crushers manager Chris Mongiardo noted a few adjustments made by Treece since his last start in Schaumburg, where he picked up a loss as he allowed nine earned runs on 11 hits to the Boomers.
According to Mongiardo, Treece’s struggles may have been due to an unusual change in his delivery. ‘He was coming up in his balance point and he was rocking a little too far back and that’s not his usual delivery,’ Mongiardo explained. ‘That’ll throw his release point off.’
With level shoulders and balanced weight, Treece improved to a 4-3 record and 3.01 ERA. Hertler, however, has carried much of the Crushers weight on his own shoulders through his current 11-game hit streak. Hertler’s average now sits at .305 for the year.
‘The best thing was he didn’t give away that last at-bat either with a 6-nothing lead,’ Mongiardo noted. ‘He battled because all those at-bats count and he really did a job, even in that last one.’
Hertler drew a walk in his final at-bat, a reflection of his recent work in picking up the spin of the ball during at-bats. Hertler said he’s been seeing the ball deeper into the strike zone, which has helped him lay off less-than-desirable pitches. The entire team seems to have found an offensive hot streak, Hertler added.
‘Hits are contagious,’ he said. ‘The other guys, it seems like they’re seeing the ball well. It kind of gives people confidence when you start seeing the ball a little better. When our offense gets going like that, it helps everybody out in the line-up. We’ve just been seeing it pretty well.’
The win improved the Crushers to a 36-30 record as Windy City dropped to 24-41 overall. Next, the Crushers host the Evansville Otters (39-24) for a three-game series.
