Stomper Visits the Booth

During Thursday night's broadcast Stomper was kind enough to drop by and surprise us with a few photo ops...

Evansville comes to All Pro Freight Stadium having suffered six consecutive defeats, the longest streak in the Frontier League...The Otters lead the league in strikeouts and were 1-5 against Lake Erie last season...The Crushers are 5-5 in the last 10 and are looking to close the homestand on a positive note after dropping the first two series...The Crushers will wear special uniforms all weekend in honor of the Fourth of July...Game Notes and Lineups below! Enjoy!!!

NOTES FOR FIRST MEETING WITH EVANSVILLE

CRUSHERS (21-18)
Dom Duggan - CF
Jodam Rivera - SS
Andrew Davis - 3B
Eddie Tisdale - 2B
Travis Vetters - LF
Drew Saylor - 2B
Lee Huggins - DH
David Phillips - RF (1st Pro Start)
Julio Rivera - C

LHP Esmelvin Jimenez (3-2, 3.47)
EVANSVILLE OTTERS (14-25, 20GB FL-West)
Zack Stanton - SS
Patrick Rose - 2B
Brandon COhen - RF
Derek Wiley - 1B
Estee Harris - CF
Greg Alexander - LF
Cody Ross - DH
Jake Rogers - 3B
Billy Killian - C

RHP Angelo Morales (0-4, 4.38)

Florence at Crushers: July 1

Is it really July now??? Wow...The Crushers play in their eighth rubber game of the season tonight...Lake Erie is 3-4 in rubber games thus far...You will notice a few minor changes to the lineup this evening...

NOTES FOR FINAL GAME WITH FLORENCE

CRUSHERS (21-17)
Dom Duggan - CF
Jodam Rivera - SS
Andrew Davis - 3B
Travis Vetters - LF
Eddie Tisdale - 1B
Drew Saylor - 2B
Lee Huggins - DH
Arden McWilliams - RF
Julio Rivera - C

RHP Matt Smith (5-2, 2.41 -- 7th Start)

FLORENCE FREEDOM (15-23)
Billy Mottram - CF
Tim Grogan - 2B
Justin Pickett - C
Michael Campbell - LF
Stephen Shults - SS
Johnny Welch - 3B
Jimmy Baker - DH
Cory Wine - 1B
Justin Jacobs - RF

LHP Bryan Banes (2-3, 4.67 -- 7th Start)

Keep LBJ in the C-L-E!!!! Part Funf!!

Funf is five in German...I am not aware of how to spell it nor do I have an umlaut button...Maybe I will start to make reference to one foreign language a day to broaden our horizons...Anyhow, this is all the media from last night's 5-4 loss to Florence in 12 innings...Make sure to click on all the pictures in each story...There are some cool ones...The one I used came from the Chronicle-Telegram and features Eddie Tisdale modeling the uniform from Keep LBJ in the C-L-E Night...

HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Campbell doubles in the first run of the game in the first inning to put Florence ahead 1-0


Cory Wine extends the Florence lead in the Top of the fourth


Lee Huggins "Stay Hot Kid!" Puts the Crushers on the Board


Wayne Bond ties the game with the fourth straight hit in the fourth


Julio Rivera greets reliever Ben Shivers with a single to put Lake Erie ahead

Stephen Shults ties the game with a two-out eighth inning homer



MEDIA
Crushers Smooth Operators -- Chronicle-Telegram

No LeBron as Crushers Make Plea -- Chronicle-Telegram

Crushers Have Success with Keep LBJ Promotion -- Morning-Journal

No LeBron, No Victory -- Chronicle Telegram

Crushers Lose in Extras -- Morning-Journal

PHOTOS
David Richard Photography

Crushers First Pitch: Lee Huggins

Lee Huggins dropped by Crushers First Pitch to talk about his game-winning hit in the 11th on June 29...

Change in Kalamazoo...

The Kalamazoo Kings announced today a change in the coaching staff...Slumping to a 7-31 start and mired in last place in the East Division, the Kings have relieved Jamie Keefe, the third winningest manager in Frontier League history with 327 wins presently, of his duties along with his entire coaching staff...

Outfielder Matt Maloney will take over as a player/manager...It is interesting to note that the winningest manager in Frontier League history, Fran Riorda, began his career as a player/manager with the Richmond Roosters...Tyler Herron, a former First Round Pick who is on the Kalamazoo pitching staff, will take over for Brian Lewis as Pitching Coach...

Below is an article from today's Kalamazoo Gazette with comments on the change...According to the article, ownership will decide at the All-Star break what to do with the positions for the rest of the season...AKA Maloney has a nine-game tryout as Manager...
Kings Fire Manager

The Crushers won't face Kalamazoo again until July 31-August 2...Keep in mind that two of Kalamazoo's seven wins came against the Crushers...

Keep LBJ in the C-L-E!!!! Part Quatro!

I don't know if that's how you spell quatro :) But I thought it would be fun to post some photos from around the ballpark on Keep LBJ in the C-L-E Night...


Harry and I rockin the Cavs gear...


Media Outside the park gathered on Keep LBJ in the C-L-E Night...


The crowd gathered outside All Pro Freight Stadium before the gates opened...Notice a whole lot of Cavs colors and gear...


The Crushers lined up for the National Anthem...Look at all those #6's on the field and in the stands...


The Fathead of Shaq telling LeBron to stay!





Signs from around All Pro Freight Stadium encouraging LeBron to stay...


Signs on the concourse...


The banner I noticed in extra innings encouraging LeBron to stay...

And just for good measure since I talked about it and don't know if I ever posted it or not, me as the yellow highlighter from World Cup Night...Go Brazil!!!

Welcome David Phillips!

The Crushers, with two open roster slots, have added an outfielder today...David Phillips, who recently concluded his college career at Ole Miss, joins the team as the fifth outfielder on the roster, which now stands at 23...Phillips appeared in 51 games, making 41 starts for the Runnin Rebs, who participated in the NCAA Regionals...

Florence at Crushers: June 30

Can anything top the drama of last evening's contest? How about Keep LBJ in the C-L-E Night! Did you see John Massarelli on ESPN's First Take this morning? The Crushers look to make it three wins in a row tonight...You will notice a trend with the lineup...It hasn't changed for the third straight game...Although the lineup has only scored three runs, it is 2-0...The pitching staff in the meantime has not allowed a run in 20.2 innings, moving up to sixth in the league with a staff ERA of 4.04...Phil Rummel, who starts tonight, is 2-0 at home with just on earned run allowed in 18 innings...Last night's hero, Lee Huggins, joins me on Crushers First Pitch...Air time is 6:50pm...

GAME NOTES

CRUSHERS (21-16, 3rd East)
Dom Duggan - CF
Jodam Rivera - SS
Andrew Davis - 3B
Eddie Tisdale - 1B
Travis Vetters - LF
Drew Saylor - 2B
Lee Huggins - DH
Wayne Bond - RF
Julio Rivera - C

RHP Phil Rummel (2-3, 5.97 -- 8th Start)

FLORENCE FREEDOM (14-23, T-5th FL West, 18GB)
Billy Mottram - CF
Tim Grogan - 2B
Justin Pickett - C
Michael Campbell - LF
Stephen Shults - SS
Johnny Welch - 3B
Jimmy Baker - DH
Cory Wine - 1B
Justin Jacobs - RF

RHP Andy Clark (3-2, 4.33 -- 7th Start)

Crushers First Pitch: J.J. Pacella

J.J. Pacella joins Crushers First Pitch to talk about his return to the Crushers...

Crushers 1, Florence 0 -- 11 Innings

What a wild night at All Pro Freight Stadium yesterday evening...The pitching staff has a streak of 20.2 innings without allowing a run and is now tied for the Frontier League lead in shutouts with five...River City also owns five shutouts...Josh Roberts was amazing and I received more than one email last night from fans claiming he solidified his slot on the East Division All-Star Team...I will say that ballots aren't out yet :) The picture is from The Morning Journal...

HIGHLIGHTS
Lee Huggins delivers the game winning hit just moments after Manager John Massarelli was ejected (Photo)


MEDIA
Crushers Get Walk-Off Win -- Morning Journal

Roberts Goes 9; Win Comes in 11 -- Chronicle-Telegram

PHOTO GALLERY
Courtesy of David Richard

Florence at Crushers: June 29

The Crushers aim to begin a new streak with the Florence Freedom visiting...Lake Erie owned a 9-3 mark against Florence in the East Division last season...Florence is now in the West...Same lineup as last night for the Crushers...

GAME NOTES FOR FLORENCE OPENER

CRUSHERS (20-16)
Dom Duggan - CF
Jodam Rivera - SS
Andrew Davis - 3B
Eddie Tisdale - 1B
Travis Vetters - LF
Drew Saylor - 2B
Lee Huggins - DH
Wayne Bond - RF
Julio Rivera - C

RHP Josh Roberts (4-0, 2.20 -- 8th Start)

FLORENCE FREEDOM (14-22, T-5th West)
Michael Campbell - LF
Billy Mottram - CF
Johnny Welch - 3B
Tim Grogan - 2B
Stephen Shults - SS
Jimmy Baker - DH
Justin Pickett - C
Cory Wine - 1B
Justin Jacobs - RF

RHP Tim Holmes (1-4, 5.79)

Mazz to Appear on ESPN's First Take

Tell all your friends...Lake Erie Manager John Massarelli will appear on ESPN2's First Take on Wednesday morning at 11:20am Eastern Time...Make sure to set your DVR and let everyone know that the Crushers will be on the show...Southern Illinois had a reliever, Mike Phelps, appear on First Take in 2008...Full details are below...The jist of the appearance for Mazz will be about Keep LBJ in the C-L-E Night which is tomorrow evening...

Game Time

Fyi game time for the second game will be at 7:05pm...I will go on air approximately 6:55 with Crushers First Pitch...

Miller High Life Guy!

The Miller High Life Guy (Wendell Middlebrooks) will be at All Pro Freight Stadium to throw out the first pitch tonight for the second game...

Continuation

As tonight begins we will resume last night's contest with Oakland County leading 5-2 with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the seventh...Alberto Rolon will take the mound with a 1-1 count on Cruiser third baseman Kyle Maunus...Calderwood's Crusher Corner has learned that Oakland County will counter with Adam Dominick when the Cruisers take the field in the bottom of the inning...Starting pitcher Andres Esquibel is the pitcher of record for the Cruisers with Michael Raymond on the hook currently for the Crushers...First pitch of the resumption is at 5:05pm with a seven-inning scheduled contest to follow 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game...

Anatomy of a Suspended Game

As usual I had the camera out with me last night snapping away some pictures...The weather was pretty ridonkulous...Check out some of these pictures and you can understand why the game yesterday was both delayed and suspended...Some of these are rather breath taking...

Roster Moves

For those who are unaware, C Joel Collins was placed on the 7-Day Injured Reserve List on Saturday retroactive to Thursday's game with Traverse City...Nick Maragas was signed to take his place...Maragas, who appeared in 32 games for the 2009 Crushers, was with the team in spring training and had been serving as the team's bullpen catcher...

In other roster notices, the team today released RHP Michael Raymond...Raymond allowed the three seventh inning runs to Oakland County in the suspended game that will resume today...He could take the loss even though he is no longer with the team...Raymond pitched in seven games...To take his place, Lake Erie has added another former Wright State University player...RHP Travis LaMar joined the team today...LaMar pitched in 20 games out of the bullpen for the Raiders this year and was a teammate of LHP Jon Durket, who was signed late last week and has pitched once for the Crushers...