Crushers swept by Wild Things, fall into first-place tie

AVON — The weekend started with the Lake Erie Crushers holding a three-game lead over the Washington Wild Things in the Central Division of the Frontier League's Midwest Conference. After the Crushers were swept in the three-game series, punctuated by an 11-1 defeat Sunday afternoon, the sides are deadlocked in the standings. Wild Things ace Kobe Foster shut down the Crushers, tossing a complete game, allowing five hits and not walking a batter. After spending the start of 2025 in the Mexican League, Foster is back, and showed why he holds the Wild Things' franchise records for career wins and strikeouts. The southpaw continued a torrid stretch over his last seven starts, in which he has not given up more than two runs in a game. "He's a crafty lefty," Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. "He knows how to mix it up. He's a good pitcher. He's been a good pitcher for a long time here in this league, and he had our number today." While his fastball topped out in the upper 80s, Foster kept Lake Erie off-balance by lobbing pitches as slow as 64 mph. That, combined with a stiff wind blowing in from dead center, silenced the Crushers offense. Foster's shutout bid was spoiled with one out in the ninth by a Burle Dixon home run, his fourth of the season. Before that, the most exciting moment for the Lake Erie offense came when Dario Gomez led off the fourth inning with a bunt single. It was a close play at the bag, and Washington first baseman Andrew Czech was ejected for arguing the call before manager Tom Vaeth quickly followed suit. Meanwhile, Lake Erie starter Ethan Smith evaded danger in the early innings thanks to a slew of baserunning blunders by the Wild Things that saw four runners retired on the basepaths, including a pair of attempted base stealers thrown out by catcher Derek Vegas. Washington opened the scoring in the sixth, when back-to-back singles allowed Ben Watson to lay down a bunt. Smith tried to get the lead runner, but his throw to third bounced into foul territory. The runner scored, and Smith's day was over. Wagner Lagrange got another run across with an RBI single, and Jeff Liquori stretched the lead to three with a sacrifice fly. Despite absorbing the loss, Smith earned praise from Lemieux. "Ethan's come a long way. I've been really pleased with how he's progressed," he said. "It's his first year as a professional, and I thought today was a well-executed start. He was making all of his pitches, getting ahead of guys. It's nice to see him doing well down the stretch." Washington put away the game in the eighth inning, batting around for six runs off reliever Leonardo Rodriguez. After walking in one run, the righty had the chance to get out of the inning on a dribbler back to the mound, but muffed it and short-hopped the throw to first. He was unable to record that third out and was pulled after giving up four more runs. Kenny Pierson got the final out of the eighth but was tagged for Washington's final runs when he returned for the ninth. The Crushers will return to action Tuesday when they host the Joliet Slammers for the first of a three-game set. "Baseball can be a humbling sport, and today we got humbled a little bit," Lemieux said, "and hopefully that puts fire under our tails and we come out ready to go next week." Contact Spencer Thomas at (440) 329-7253 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.