Crushers' bats go cold in loss to Miners

AVON — It was a frustrating game for the second straight day Wednesday for the Lake Erie Crushers as the Sussex County Miners made life tough for the home team in Frontier League action. The Miners limited the Crushers to one hit over the final six innings as Lake Erie came up on the short end of a 3-1 score. Lake Erie (22-31) suffered its second straight defeat and seventh loss in the last 10 games. Sussex County improved to 25-24 with its fourth straight win and seventh in the last 10 games. The Crushers managed only six hits — three of them came in the second inning when Lake Erie scored its only run. Second baseman Luis Acevedo's two-out single to left brought home catcher Alfredo Gonzalez to put Lake Erie on the scoreboard. Joe Redfield's two-out infield single in the seventh was Lake Erie's lone hit over the final six innings. Redfield was subsequently erased from the base paths when he was caught stealing second by Miners catcher Jose Medrano. Lake Erie stranded four runners, while Sussex County left 14 on base. Gonzalez's run was Lake Erie's lone run the past two games. The Crushers lost 6-0 to the Miners on Tuesday night in the first game of a three-game series at ForeFront Field. "We put some good swings together but they weren't able to fall," Acevedo said. "The past two days have been kind of like that for the whole team. We're just trying to focus on the simple things. It was a good pitching performance by both teams. We're trying to click on all cylinders. At times the hitting picks us up. Today the pitching picked us up. We just kind of hope at some point that it all clicks together." Four Lake Erie pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts but yielded nine hits while giving up six walks and three hit batters. Sussex County also had three stolen bases. Crushers starting pitcher Fraynel Nova saw his record drop to 1-8 with a 6.18 ERA as he scattered three hits over the first four innings. Nova found his groove by the second inning but was in trouble early. He yielded the Miners' first two runs in the first inning. Nova walked Hunter D'Amato on four pitches to start the game then gave up a single to Haidan Walters. After Gabriel Maciel sacrificed, Nova walked Keenan Taylor to load the bases. Evan Berkey's sacrifice fly to center field scored D'Amato. Edwin Mateo followed with a single to center to bring home Walters. Except for the eighth inning, Sussex County had at least one baserunner every inning compared to Lake Erie, which had only one baserunner after the third inning. Miners pitching yielded no walks and didn't hit any batters. "We couldn't get the bats going," Crushers manager Jared Lemieux said. "We started off many innings with good deep counts, but then the pitcher ended up winning the battle. We went full counts with the first batter the first 4-5 innings and the pitcher was able to get us, but I thought those were good fights." Sussex County starting pitcher Tristan Harley (1-0, 1.74 ERA) went for the first six innings for Sussex County. Harley scattered five hits while striking out five. Total pitch count showed that Sussex County batters were more effective in working the Lake Erie pitching staff as it forced a totaled pitch count of 163 (96 for strikes). The Crushers meanwhile were only able to work Miners pitching to a total count of 109 (73 for strikes). "If you can't get that first guy on it's tough to get a rally going," said Lemieux. "(Harley) kept us off balance all day. He had good stuff. "We fought. He was nibbling. He was around the plate. We were able to work some counts deep but when the chips came down he was able to execute the pitch. That's the name of the game: to keep the guy off first base, make them earn with a stick and don't walk people. It was very tough to score. They did a good job of not walking us." Redfield led Lake Erie with two hits while Sebastian Alexander, Pavin Parks, Gonzalez and Acevedo accounted for the Crushers' other hits. "That's a team (the Miners) that likes to play small ball, put you in a jam in uncomfortable positions," said Lemieux. "I thought we dealt with those pretty well. Our pitchers executed." Brandon Scott pitched three innings in relief, yielding three hits while striking out four and hit one batter. Christian Scafidi and Brandyn Sittinger, a Keystone grad, each pitched one inning in relief. Scafidi gave up one run on two hits while walking two and fanning two. Sittinger gave up one hit and struck out two. "Aside from the first inning where we walked the first batter, Nova did a pretty good job," said Lemieux. "Scott did a pretty good job coming in and getting out of some jams that he got himself into. There's a lot to be pleased with. Their two starters the past two nights pressed the issue. We need to barrel some more balls up. I don't think we're playing bad baseball. We're playing relatively clean. Today was pretty good." Lake Erie pitcher Edwin Sanchez (4-2, 5.45 ERA, 33 innings pitched with 26 strikeouts and 22 walks) was named to next Tuesday's Frontier League All-Star Game in Florence, Kentucky. Contact Paul Heyse at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.