Crushers can't weather storm, fall to Otters

AVON — There was no electricity at Crushers Stadium on Wednesday evening and apparently no juice in the dugout either. Lake Erie dropped a listless 7-1 Frontier League outing to the Evansville Otters in front of only 662 fans. Because of Tuesday's wind and rain that knocked out power to thousands of people in Northeast Ohio, the planned doubleheader turned out to be just a single game. The teams will meet today at 1 p.m. for a twin spin. Lake Erie (40-32) entered the July 19 All-Star break with a 37-20 record, but are 3-12 since. "We've been through a little bit here," Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. "A little bit of adversity. It was interesting. (Tuesday) was a wild day at the ballpark. Things were flying around in the air, swirling wind, tornado — whatever you want to call it. It came right through the park. You never know how you'll respond after something like that. We were just a little flat." Wednesday was a quiet and uneventful day although there was still a stiff breeze coming in from center field. There were no PA announcements, no between-inning fun and games and no scoreboard. Perhaps that played a role in the lifeless atmosphere in the park. When Evansville (31-41) dropped a five-spot, all unearned, on Lake Erie in the second inning, it made it even tougher for the Crushers. The Otters had two men on with one out to start the second inning and a ground ball to Logan Thomason at third appeared to be the right tonic for Lake Erie to escape unscathed. "It could have been a much different inning," Lemieux said. "We need to play clean baseball. That's what we need to do to win." Thomason's throw to second hopped into the outfield loading the bases. Mason White singled in one run and Gio DiGiacomo singled in another, leaving the bases loaded. Delvin Linn drove home Mason White from third with another single and Gary Mattis doubled down the left-field line to score two more. Starting pitcher Pedro Echemendia managed to last seven innings, allowing just those five runs but walking four, including a couple critical free passes in the second inning. Meanwhile, the Crushers couldn't touch Evansville starter Parker Brahms, who allowed just two hits and one walk through six innings. Finally, in the seventh inning, doubles by Jake Guenther and Ron Washington scored Lake Erie's only run. Those were the lone extra-base hits for Lake Erie, although Alberti Chavez did have three singles. Evansville responded with two more runs in the eighth inning off relief pitcher Kenny Pierson. Amani Larry and DiGiacomo drove in the runs with hits. Contact Tim Gebhardt at (440) 329-7135 or at timothygeb@msn.com.