Maybe the Lake Erie Crushers should play more doubleheaders.
On July 1, the Crushers swept first-place Schaumburg 8-0, and 3-2, behind strong pitching and timely hits.
In Game 2, Lake Erie did it in thrilling fashion, winning off a walk-off hit from second baseman Jordan Dean in the bottom of the eighth. It capped off a huge day for Dean, who crushed a three-run homer in Game 1. Lake Erie got the first two men on base, and L.J. Kalawaia safely reached on a bunt to load the bases before Dean’s heroics.
Starter Connor Reed went six innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs. Reliever Seth Lucio picked up the win. pitching two shutout innings.
“It was a long day, but it was fun,” Dean said, who’s batting .274. “It started with our pitchers. And the hitting has been there for us lately. You can see when we have good at-bats, we’re pretty solid one through nine.”
After the Boomers scored a couple of first inning runs, the Crushers went hitless until the fourth when Cody Lenahan singled, but it was the fifth where they evened it. Both Parker Norris and Kalawaia led off the inning with a walk, and that set up for a sacrifice bunt from Dean that coaxed a throwing error to first, scoring both runs.
The Crushers mustered only four hits, but got the one that counted.
“I spent the last 3 1/2 seasons with Schaumburg, so they’re good friends of mine,” Dean said. “So my heart was beating a little bit, but once I got 3-0 in the count, I was sitting on his (Jake Joyce) fastball and got it.”
Game 1 wasn’t as dramatic. A pair of fourth-inning bombs from third baseman Lenahan and Dean.
Up 2-0, Lenahan’s eighth home run of the year brought home Austin O’Brien for a 4-0 lead. A few batters later, Dean smacked a three-run homer to blow it open.
Starter Juan Caballero (2-1) pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and striking out eight.
He was in cruise control throughout, with all five hits merely being singles.
Schaumburg still remains in first-place in the East Division, a spot they haven’t relinguinshed since opening day. Lake Erie scored two runs in the bottom of the third off the bats of Norris and Kalawai, and Norris tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth.
Manager Cam Roth is familiar with Schaumburg having previously coached there and the emotions were high.
“I know how they’re going to play the game and they know how I want to play,” Roth said. “We do a lot of similar things. It was good to only use four pitchers throughout the day and Cabby was going strong that whole first game. They did a pretty good job today and it’s tough to stay locked in for 15 straight innings. I commend these guys for sure.”
Dean finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, and both Norris and Conor Sullivan had multi-hit games. They finished with 10 total hits.
Notes
After the final meeting of the series against Schaumburg on July 2, the Crushers continue their longest home stand when Evansville visits. … In the last six games, Connor Oliver is batting .350 with three home runs. … The Crushers improved to 3-6 when scoring eight or more runs.
