Crushers Can’t Put Away Washington, Sets Up Rubber Match Thursday

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Crushers Can’t Put Away Washington, Sets Up Rubber Match Thursday

Washington, PA - July 22, 2026 - The Lake Erie Crushers (27-35) were ahead on multiple occasions on Wednesday night at EQT Park, but they couldn’t hold the leads for long as the Washington Wild Things (42-20) came back and took a 8-6 victory to set up the ultimate rubbermatch tomorrow.

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Lake Erie struck first in the opening frame on an RBI groundout by 3B Chayton Krauss, who was hitting cleanup on Wednesday, but similar to Tuesday night, the Wild Things responded with a run of their own on an RBI double by 1B Andrew Czech. The 1-1 score graced the scoreboard in a dejavu of game one.

RHP Justin Mays was making his professional debut for Lake Erie, and he settled down to pitch a scoreless inning in the 2nd.

In the 3rd, LF Joe Redfield blasted a no-doubter for his second homer of the season to give the Crushers the lead back, but that wasn’t all. Chayton Krauss came up with two men on and blasted a moonshot over the left field wall for a three-run homer, his first as a professional, giving Lake Erie a 5-1 cushion.

Washington’s bats were relentless, though. Two men reached against Mays in the bottom of the 3rd, and LF Anthony Brocato brought them all home on his three-run, opposite field homer. Brocato’s 18th of the year made it just a one-run deficit for Washington.

Mays’ pro debut would end after that. Aside from the big sluggers, he pitched enough to exit with the lead. His final line: 3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K on 75 pitches.

Washington got a clutch two-out hit in the bottom of the 4th against RHP Dawson Hargrove off the bat of DH Antonio Monroy to knot the game at five-all.

Both sides put up zeros in the 5th, but the Crushers reclaimed the lead on a two-out, two-strike single from CF Sebastian Alexander in the top of the 6th. Lake Erie went up 6-5 with their bullpen deep into the game.

In the 7th, RHP Christian Scafidi ran into trouble after a wild pitch allowed Monroy to advance two bases after C Derek Vegas was unable to locate the baseball. Moments later, C Billy Sullivan hit a jam-shot to the second base position, but the infield was drawn in, and it dumped into right for a game-tying single.

With the score 6-6, Scafidi came back out for the 8th and issued a leadoff walk to the speedster CF Caleb Ketchup. Ketchup stole second, but Scafidi struck out 3B Ryan Ford for the first out. Then, Ketchup stole third, but Scafidi struck out 2B Connor Peek and was one out away from holding the 6-6 tie.

However, SS Kyle Edwards, who was hitless in the series, got a two-strike pitch well off the barrel to fall into left field for a dump-in, go-ahead single. He would steal second and score an insurance run on a Monroy RBI single moments later, making the score 8-6 Washington.

RHP Landon Ginn, who entered in the 8th, pitched a 1-2-3 9th inning to nail down the Washington win, knotting the series even and setting up the ultimate rubbermatch tomorrow with a series win in the balance.

Landon Ginn got the win, and Christian Scafidi was tagged with the loss, surrendering the three runs in the late innings.

The Crushers will look to take the season series from the Wild Things tomorrow at 7:05pm ET.  Catch every game of the road trip live on HomeTeam Network. Fun promotional nights are on tap when the Crushers come home, like Copa De La Diversion, Star Wars Night, and more! Tickets are available at LECrushers.com.

For information on season ticket memberships visit lecrushers.com or call (440) 934-3636, and be sure to follow our socials @LECrushers on Instagram/Facebook/X.

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About the Lake Erie Crushers

The Lake Erie Crushers are a professional baseball team based in Avon, Ohio, just 18 miles west of Cleveland at ForeFront Field. They compete in the Frontier League, a proud MLB Partner League, and have brought a family-friendly, fan-oriented baseball experience to Northeast Ohio since 2009. As Lorain County’s only professional sports franchise, the Lake Erie Crushers are the largest economic driver in Lorain County, hosting more than 200 events per year that include over 50 baseball games, concerts, charity functions, and other events that bring the community of Avon together. Len Komoroski is the Crushers Chairman and Managing Partner, and the team is led by President Vic Gregovits. Jared Lemieux, a Maine Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, is in his fourth season as field manager.