Young guys lead Crushers past ThunderBolts and above .500

AVON — Pretty good pitching and clutch hitting by a couple of rookies helped the Lake Erie Crushers climb back over the .500 mark Friday night. Jake Pilarski, after a shaky start, picked up his first win of the season and shortstop Eric Callahan drove in the go-ahead run with a second-inning double as the Crushers snuck past Windy City 4-2 at Mercy Health Stadium. Lake Erie improved to 17-16, while the ThunderBolts fell to 11-21. "He's a youngster, right out of college," Crushes manager Dan Rohn said of Pilarski. "That was his third start, got his first win. It was great to see him settle in a little bit. Maybe that will make him relax a little bit. "He's got a good arm. He's just got to learn to trust his stuff." Pilarski was touched up for both runs in the top of the first. He gave up a lead-off double to former Crusher Zach Racusin and singles to Dan Robinson and Jairus Richards for a quick 2-0 deficit. Racusin scored on a passed ball while Robinson scored on Richards' single to right. In the second inning, Pilarski, fresh off the campus of The Citadel, survived a lead-off double from Peyton Isaacson and a hit batter (Brynn Martinez) before settling in after that. He didn't allow another hit or a run over the next four innings, although two batters reached on another hit batter and a walk. Taylor Sugg worked two scoreless innings and Daniel Kight picked up his third save of the year with a solid ninth inning. Lake Erie bounced back after the early deficit. It scored one in the first after an error put Steven Kraft on second and Isaac Bernard drove him in with a single. The Crushers added two in the second on Callahan's two-run double to left-center. Steve Passatempo, who had three hits to lift his average to .190, drove in an insurance run in the third after Brody Wofford's double to the corner in right field. Callahan just joined the Crushers in June after playing at Millersville University. "Youngster's stepping up and playing all right," Rohn said of Callahan. "He did a good job." "I was coming up with a runner on second," Callahan said. "With less than two outs, I'm just trying to drive something to the middle of the field. It was a pitch I was able to do something with. It worked out well. "The pitching staff did a great job in the last eight innings, putting up zeros, so we got the win out of it." Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or timothygeb@msn.com.