No. 9 hitter Najee Gaskins helps Crushers past Boomers

AVON — Left fielder Najee Gaskins may have been the last hitter in the Crushers' batting order when Lake Erie opened a three-game series against the Schaumburg Boomers on Tuesday night, but he took advantage of the opportunities he had to impact the game. Gaskins drove in a run and helped manufacture two more by stealing second base in a four-run fifth inning, which gave the Crushers their first lead of the game. The Crushers added two insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and held on for a 7-5 victory at Mercy Health Stadium. With the win, the Crushers pulled to within a game of the .500 mark at 39-40, while the Boomers, the second-place team in the Frontier League's West Division, dropped to 43-35. "The team did what they had to do," Gaskins said. "We're a good team and the guys came through. That's what we do. We put the bat on the ball, we hit it hard and we do well. When you hit the ball hard, it makes plays for itself." The Crushers got the fifth-inning rally started when designated hitter D.J. Stewart hit a leadoff double to left-center and center fielder Austin White followed with a walk. Catcher Bryan De La Rosa dropped down a sacrifice bunt, which put runners at second and third with only one out. Gaskins reached on an error that allowed Stewart to score and White to advance to third. Once on base, Gaskins used his speed to manufacture another run, as he drew a throw down to second trying to steal and the attention allowed White to score. Gaskins advanced to third on Craig's errant throw home to attempt to tag out White and scored when third baseman Connor Owings singled to right field. Shortstop Kenan Irizarry drove in the Crushers' fourth and final run of the inning when he singled home Owings with two outs. "It's huge," Gaskins said of the fifth-inning rally. "To win the game, we need to score runs. If we're not scoring runs, we're definitely not going to win a lot of games. I know we've got a lot of guys on the team that can easily put the ball over the fence, but they did their jobs." Though the Crushers took a two-run lead into the bottom of the fifth, the Boomers made things uncomfortable for them in the top of the sixth. First baseman Braxton Davidson led off with a walk, but was later erased on a fielder's choice from center fielder Brett Milazzo. After hustling down the line to avoid a double play, Milazzo stole second and came around to score when third baseman William Salas smashed an RBI double to left field. That hit prompted Crushers manager Cam Roth to pull starter Joseph Sgambelluri from the game. Left-hander Kyle Seebach came in and walked two straight to load the bases. However, Seebach retired the side and preserved a one-run lead when he struck out second baseman Chase Dawson swinging on a full count to end the top of the sixth. While the Crushers went in order in the first inning, second baseman Kemuel Thomas-Rivera made sure that wasn't the case in the second. Thomas-Rivera belted a leadoff homer over the wall in left field, which cut Schaumburg's lead in half, 2-1. "Hit the ball hard and put some runs on the board," Gaskins said. "That's really what it's all about, putting runs on the board and winning the game." Contact Matt Florjancic at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.