Crushers struggle to score but still get split against Miners

AVON — The Crushers put together a solid second inning against Sussex County. They just couldn't sustain it the rest of the game against former major league pitcher Vin Mazzaro. Lake Erie's two-run lead eventually withered as the Crushers dropped Game 1 of a doubleheader 4-3 to the Miners on Sunday at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon. While the offense continued to sputter in Game 2 for the Crushers — who went 11 straight innings without scoring — when they finally broke the drought they broke it in a big way, scoring two runs in the bottom of the last to pull out a 2-1 win and series split. Jack Valera doubled in Kokko Figueiredo to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh — both games were scheduled seven-inning affairs — and scored the winning run on Jack Harris' single. In Game 1, Mazzaro (1-0), who spent eight seasons in the majors, threw six innings, allowing four hits and three runs, but struck out three and set down 12 straight batters. "I thought their guy threw well," Crushers manager Cam Roth said. "He was able to really keep us off balance. I don't think our approach necessarily faltered. We just had some bad luck at times, and got some swings on some pitches, but his experience and composure and resume came through. He had a one-run ballgame into the sixth inning, so kudos to him." Mazzaro had a 24-23 record with a 4.79 ERA and appeared in 140 games during his time at the highest level of baseball. But the Crushers got to him early. Heading into the bottom of the second inning and trailing 1-0, the Crushers (3-5) put together four straight hits to take a two-run lead. With one out, Jared Mang and Jarrod Watkins singled to set up Ermindo Escobar's RBI single to tie it at 1. After Figeuiredo reached on a single to load the bases, Connor Owings drew a walk to bring another run across, and Kenen Irizarry followed with a fielder's choice RBI to give Lake Erie a 3-1 lead. But the Crushers couldn't maintain enough offense and didn't register a hit the rest of the game. "You can't take anything away from that guy. It's a day game, pitcher's ballpark and difficult to see (with the sun) in a 4-3 game that he knew how to pitch." Sussex County (8-2) cut into the lead in the top of the third on Mikey Reynolds' RBI single to left field. The Miners went ahead an inning later on Carson McCurdy's two-run single. McCurdy took the first pitch he saw off Crushers relief pitcherJacob Gilliland — who had just come on for starter Brock Begue — down the first-base line that put his team ahead for good at 4-3. Mang nearly tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, taking a 2-0 pitch deep to the left field warning track, but not deep enough to clear the fence. Begue pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed four runs on six hits in the 17 batters he faced. He struck out four. Gilliland (0-1) took the loss. Still, Roth saw some silver lining in the defeat. "Our versatility and mix of veteran hitters and rookie hitters, and how they've been able to jumble together and spread the lineup out, it's good for the rookies to see the veterans' approach to the game," Roth said. "We're putting a lot of pressure on some of these rookies, but our veteran guys have taken them under their wings." Contact Anthony Moujaes at ctsports@chroniclet.com.