Welcome to the pros: Jaidan Quinn homers in second at-bat to help Crushers top Wild Things

AVON — In his second at-bat, Jaidan Quinn changed the course of his first professional game. Quinn, in his Lake Erie debut, crushed a ball to right field for a two-run home run that helped break open the game and send the Crushers to a 7-2 win over Washington at Crushers Stadium on Thursday night. "After that first at-bat, I was just getting the jitters out of the way," Quinn said. "I got comfortable in the box and just played my own game and had fun. This is a game that we all love to play. You just can't really put too much pressure on yourself." Lake Erie (20-19), back home after an 11-game road trip, will continue its seven-game homestand against Gateway tonight at 7:05 with Darrien Ragins taking the mound. The Crushers played their previous two games against the Wild Things (24-18) in Washington with the third shifting to Avon because of an event at the Wild Things' ballpark. Lake Erie will reciprocate in August when it hosts two out of three. "We love being home and playing in front of our fans," Lake Erie manager Jared Lemieux said. "There's a comfortability there. We've faced some injuries and adversity on the road. We're just happy to be back home playing winning baseball right now." Quinn drove 12 hours Wednesday to join Lake Erie from Concordia University, an NAIA school in Seward, Nebraska. He played for four seasons and most recently won Great Plains Athletic Conference Player of the Year for the second year in a row. He hit .358 with 25 home runs and 73 RBIs his senior season and left as the program's all-time home run leader with 98. It took him one at-bat to get warmed up. He struck out looking in the second, but he quickly got to work on climbing the Lake Erie leaderboards, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk. Quinn's home run made it 4-0 and two batters later Dario Gomez added a solo shot to left. "I'm very blessed," Quinn said. "Not everybody has the opportunity to continue playing baseball after college, or even high school. I'm just really blessed by God to allow me to do this and I'm just taking it one step at a time for him." Lake Erie scored in the first and third to take a 2-0 lead. Alfredo Gonzalez stole second base with two outs in the first, setting up Vincent Byrd Jr., who drove him in with a liner into center field. The Crushers had a chance to break the game open in the third, loading the bases with one out for Byrd, who worked a full count after going down 1-2, but ultimately struck out looking. Scout Knotts also worked a full count, but this time Zach Kirby's curveball didn't drop into the zone, extending the Crushers lead to 2-0. That was all Lake Erie got as Jordan Harrison-Dudley grounded out to end the inning, but it was plenty of run support for starter Dylan Spain. The 6-foot-6 right hander went seven innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits and two walks while striking out six. Jeff Liquori cut into the Crushers' lead with a two-run home run off the scoreboard, driving in Robert Chayka, who drew a two-out walk. Tommy Caufield kept the threat alive with a single and Tyreque Reed reached on an error, giving Andrew Czech a chance to tie the game with one swing, but he flied out to center. Former Keystone standout Brandyn Sittinger helped close out the win by retiring the side in order on 12 pitches, including a strikeout. "We trust we're going to get a good start out of (Spain) every time he takes the mound now," Lemieux said. "He's battled in his career and to see him find success right now is special. For him to turn the page quickly (after the sixth) and put up a quick zero in the seventh is going to help his confidence going forward. It's what the team needed tonight." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.