The Florence Y’alls (17-29) put up some nice offensive numbers in the Frontier League game against the Lake Erie Crushers (20-27) on Wednesday.
But two big innings from the Crushers pushed the Y’alls to their ninth straight loss at Thomas More Stadium. Lake Erie put up five runs in both the first and fourth innings on its way to a 10-7 victory.
“We had a meeting and talked about (all three phases of the game),” said Brian White, Florence Manager. “On this losing streak, it seems to be one piece is missing. We’re not able to put the whole thing together. We have to find a way to get that done as a team, as an organization. Once we get that rolling, we have I feel the most talented team in the league. But you have to play baseball. Talent doesn’t always win by itself. We’re working on that and hopefully, we turn this (season) around real soon.”
Lake Erie hit an astounding .342 (13 for 38) in the game with a home run and four doubles. The Crushers entered the game batting .265 (403 for 1,521) as a team.
Five different Crushers had two hits in the game. First baseman Jackson Valera had a home run, two runs batted in and scored twice. His fifth home run of the season gave Lake Erie the lead for good at 7-6 in the top of the fourth inning.
On the other side, Florence batted .270 (10 for 37) overall. Right fielder Anthony Brocato continued to swing the bat well going 3 for 3 with his 13th and 14th home runs of the year and his seventh double. Brocato drove in four and scored three times.
Brocato’s first home run came in the bottom of the first inning trimming the Lake Erie lead to 5-3. His second two-run blast came in the bottom of the third to put the Y’alls up 6-5.
“We fought our way back in there, which is what you can ask for at that,” White said. “We needed a shutdown inning in the fourth inning, didn’t quite get that. It spiraled out of control. But it was good to see our guys not give up and pull the game within striking distance. We just didn’t get the job done.”
Florence shortstop Alberti Chavez doubled twice and scored twice. First baseman Brennan Price went 2 for 4 with two RBI and scored twice.
Jared Cheek started for Florence pitching into the second inning before Billy Damon (0-2) took over pitching through the fifth inning. Karl Craigie, Kent Klyman and Bryant Flete combined to strike out six in the final four innings giving Florence a chance. Strong thunderstorms did delay the game for 45 minutes.
Gunnar Kines started for Lake Erie striking out five. Elliot Carney (1-0) pitched the next four innings striking out three before Sam Curtis came on in the ninth inning retiring all three Florence hitters to earn his sixth save of the season.
Florence did score one run in the bottom of the eighth to make things interesting. Brocato doubled then scored when second baseman Andres Rios singled.
Both teams had one error each. But neither team scored any unearned runs off them.
Lake Erie right fielder Sean Cheely reached on an error for Lake Erie in the top of the third. He stole second but overslid the base. He popped up and took off for third. But Rios threw to Ethan Stern at third to erase Cheely from the base paths.
“Just being solid on defense gives our pitchers a shot, keeps us in ballgames, allows the bats to heat up,” Stern said. “It’s a big part of our team. We take pride in it. We just have to keep doing business. That means playing wherever (the coaching staff) wants us to and just making plays.”
Florence concludes the series on Thursday. Game time is 6:34 p.m.
