Crushers come up short in 11-inning loss to Schaumburg

Frontier League games don’t reach the 11th inning very often, but the host Crushers lost in sudden-death fashion to the Schaumburg Boomers, 6-5, on Aug. 16.

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.”