Alexander’s Career Night Highlights 14-3 Win in Windy City

Crestwood, IL - August 20, 2025 - The Lake Erie Crushers (50-34) plowed their way to a 14-3 win over the Windy City ThunderBolts (34-52) on Wednesday night, dropping their playoff magic number to two.

With Washington’s sixth straight loss, the Crushers now have a four game lead for the Central Division with 10 games left in the regular season.

LF Sebastian Alexander had a career day, and it started unseemingly with a one-out walk in the top of the 1st. C Alfredo Gonzalez drove him in on an infield single to put the Crushers up early. Windy City responded with a run of their own in the home half of the first, tying the game 1-1.

LHP Darrien Ragins settled down after a rocky first inning and gave the Crushers time to get the bats going, which they did in the 4th. 1B Scout Knotts snapped out of a funk with a ripped RBI single up the middle to regain the lead, then CF Dario Gomez lifted a sacrifice fly to tack on another Lake Erie run.

Then, with two outs, Sebastian Alexander unloaded on a 1-0 fastball from RHP Eric Turner and blasted it over the left field wall for his first professional homer, a two-run shot to put Lake Erie up 5-1.

Alfredo Gonzalez led off the next inning with his eighth homer of the season, and SS Zach Campbell followed it up later with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 7-1.

Ragins surrendered a run in the bottom of the 5th on an RBI groundout by SS James Dunlap, but El Gato bounced back after a rough start last week. His final line: 5 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.

The Crushers added on again in the 6th once again thanks to Sebastian Alexander. This time he used his speed to create problems. He led off the inning with a double, stole third, then forced a poor throw to score Lake Erie’s eighth run of the evening.

Alexander struck again in the 7th with an RBI bunt single, which started a big inning for the Crushers. DH Sam Franco got in on the party with an RBI single, and the Crushers walked away with a five-run inning to go up 13-2.

New acquisition LHP Franklin Parra made his Crushers debut in the bottom of the 7th. He gave up a run on a sacrifice fly, but struck out two batters in the inning. There was a two minute delay for a skunk running on the field. The little bugger safely squeezed under the outfield fence and play resumed shortly thereafter.

For good measure the Crushers scored another run in the 9th on a Scout Knotts RBI groundout, and they cruised to a dominant 14-3 victory over the ThunderBolts to even the series.

All nine Crushers hitters reached base on Wednesday night, and some big offensive producers for Lake Erie included:

• Sebastian Alexander: 3-for-4 (2B, HR, 2 SB, 3 RBI, 4 R, 2 BB)

• Alfredo Gonzalez: 3-for-6 (HR, 2 RBI, 2 R)

• Zach Campbell: 3-for-5 (2 R, RBI)

Darrien Ragins (6-5) got the win in a solid performance, and Eric Turner (7-4) dropped his second game since being traded to Windy City from Schaumburg.

The Crushers will try to end the road trip over .500 tomorrow at 7:35pm ET against the ThunderBolts. It’s the final game of the longest road trip of the season before the team returns home to Avon this Friday, August 22nd at 7:05pm. Tickets are online at lakeeriecrushers.com/tickets! 

Can’t join us at the ballpark? You can stream Crushers games home and away in 2025 on the brand new Frontier League streaming partner, HomeTeam Network or watch live on local television on Rock Entertainment Sports Network (RESN) in Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati markets!

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Whether it’s a birthday celebration, youth sports night, corporate event, or family reunion, group outings with the Crushers offer great fan experiences and benefits, including reserved seating and special perks. Visit www.LakeErieCrushers.com/groups or call (440) 934-3636 for more information.

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About the Lake Erie Crushers

The Lake Erie Crushers are a professional baseball team that plays just 18 miles outside Cleveland at the 5,000 seat Crushers Stadium in Avon, Ohio. They compete in the Frontier League - a prestigious MLB Partner League. Since its founding in 2009, the Crushers have been dedicated to delivering exciting baseball and family-friendly entertainment to fans in Northeast Ohio.