Lake Erie Crushers First Half Recap

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Zane Bloom, zbloom@lakeeriecrushers.com

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Lake Erie Crushers First Half Recap

Avon, OH - July 17, 2025 - With the unofficial first half of the 2025 Frontier League season completed, the Lake Erie Crushers sit alone in first place in the Central Division by 0.5 games. The season to this point has featured plenty of hills, valleys, and everything in between. Let’s relive the first half of the season together and figure out how we got to where we are now.

Better Late Than Never

The Crushers’ season actually didn’t even start on time. While most of the league was already two games in by Saturday, May 10th, the Crushers had dealt with back-to-back rain cancellations in their opening series with the New York Boulders. Once the rains finally subsided, the Crushers swept their “Opening Night” doubleheader on the backs of Burle Dixon and Brandyn Sittinger.

Hot, Hot, Hot

Following their opening series win in New York, the Crushers returned home to the place where they boasted one of the best home records in the Frontier League in 2024. They picked up right where they left off with series victories over the Florence Y’alls and Ottawa Titans before going on the road and sweeping the Windy City ThunderBolts to improve to 9-2 in the early goings of 2025.

The First Lull of 2025

With as long as the baseball season is, ebbs and flows will happen. While the Crushers were carrying their hot stretch into late May, they ran into a bit of a snag. On the road against the Evansville Otters, the Crushers enjoyed leads in all three games but couldn’t quite put the Otters away. They came back in all three games and the Crushers dropped two of them (with the third being suspended in the 10th inning, to be resumed on July 29th). Then, after a remarkable comeback win against the Washington Wild Things, things looked to be turning around after the rough patch. 

However, Lake Erie dropped the final two games to the Wild Things at home, each by just a single run. Four losses in five games, and none of them were by more than two runs. It was at this point that the Crushers realized they had a weapon, and it came against the ThunderBolts on May 30th.

Escobar’s Dominance

Anthony Escobar is in his second year with Lake Erie coming off a Frontier League All-Star selection in 2024. Escobar was slept on last season with great numbers despite his stuff being fairly unassuming on the mound. With the Crushers in the midst of losing four of five, Escobar took the hill at home against Windy City.

He went out and tossed the first nine-inning complete game shutout since Jack Eisenbarger’s no-hitter in June 2024. It was a spectacle to behold as he ran through the ThunderBolts lineup. He only struck out two batters all game, but he went the distance having given up zero runs in a 15-0 Crushers win. It was not a surprise that Escobar was able to do such a thing against a weak-hitting team, but this was the start that put the league on notice. Escobar was cooking up something very special in 2025.

His next start came June 5th on the road against the Schaumburg Boomers, one of the best hitting teams in the league. At this point, the Crushers had backslided once again and had lost four straight. Escobar was the perfect stopper. He went out and silenced the Boomers in five innings to lead the Crushers to a salvage 8-2 win. 

Treading Water

After two home losses to the Tri-City ValleyCats, the Crushers found themselves at .500 at 12-12. The Crushers had not been under .500 since the second game of the season in 2024 after losing on Opening Day to the Gateway Grizzlies before winning six straight. At this rate it was sink or swim for the struggling Crushers, and veteran catcher Alfredo Gonzalez made sure Lake Erie would not sink.

In the series finale against the ValleyCats on June 8th, Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a double, home run, and six RBIs (a single-game season high) to power the Crushers to an 8-0 win to get back above .500.

From there the piddle-paddle seesaw went to work. The Crushers would win one, then lose one. They’d win two, then lose two. They continued this trend for the remainder of the month of June, coming home to start July with a three game series against the Joliet Slammers, who were ahead of the Crushers for the final Wild Card spot.

The Crushers pitching staff showed up in a big way, leading the way to a series sweep with the Slammers scoring just three runs of offense in the entire series. Jack Eisenbarger, Dylan Spain, and Darrien Ragins all pitched quality starts, locking in the first sweep since late May and also making it the first time the Crushers had won three games in a row since early June.

Finding the Footing?

Once the Slammers had been put to bed, the Crushers went on the road to Gateway and stunned the Grizzlies with a comeback win down to their final out on July 4th. Another comeback win on July 6th secured a massive series win and the Crushers came back home to take on the Boomers once again.

Unfortunately for the Crushers, the Boomers had some magic of their own. They came back in two of the three games and swept the Crushers in three games. With the All-Star Break looming and the Crushers taking on their division rival Wild Things to end the first half, a lot was on the line in the final three games before the break.

Statement Made

The Crushers waltzed into Washington 2.5 games behind first place in the Central Division entering the series, and just like against Joliet, the pitching lifted Lake Erie to resounding success on the road. 

Ethan Smith got the win in the opener with help of his bullpen and some late offense. Then, a tight game on July 12th was secured 2-0 thanks to more clutch pitching from Jack Eisenbarger and the bullpen. And finally on Sunday after a rain delay, the Crushers got out early and walked away with a 5-2 victory and a series sweep to vault them all the way into first place.

As things currently stand, the Crushers are 29-25 and winners of nine of their last 14 games.

Pitching Prowess

The Crushers, like 2024, are being led by an unbelievable pitching staff in 2025. Their 3.67 team ERA is second best in the whole Frontier League, second to only Quebec. Opponents are hitting just .227 against Crushers pitching this season, which is a league-low amongst all 18 teams.

The bullpen has also been excellent as well. Michael Brewer has been electric as the team’s closer all season long with his 1.25 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 21 ⅔ innings. In front of him is former big leaguer Brandyn Sittinger, who has gone a staggering 20 ⅔ straight innings without giving up a single run in relief. In that span Sittinger has given up just two walks and one singular hit. All the while he’s struck out a batter in every outing he’s had, good for 29 Ks in that span.

As a whole the bullpen has done an incredible job preventing runs late in games this season. Every single arm has played a key role in some regard, and they deserve plenty of flowers for being an exceptional unit in 2025.

Leading the Charge Offensively

In 2024, the Crushers were snake-bitten at times with a minimalistic offense. They pitched well and played exceptional defense, which won them a bunch of games. But when the offense couldn’t get going, the team as a whole struggled.

That hasn’t been much of an issue in 2025. Sure, the team has gone through some dry spells offensively, but as a whole the offense has been identifiably better than a year ago.

Scout Knotts leads the team with eight home runs, 30 RBIs, and a .417 OBP. He’s also drawn 40 walks and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with 31. Knotts has been a key contributor right in the middle of the lineup all season long. He’s been very patient when the time calls for it, but his ability to rise to the occasion and drive in runs has been a massive lift for the Lake Erie offense.

A bit of a surprise offensive contributor this season has been catcher Derek Vegas. Brought in to be Alfredo Gonzalez’ backup catcher, Vegas has hit his way into an everyday bat. He leads the team with a .302 batting average and went the back half of June hitting around .500 over the course of multiple weeks. Vegas has also played great defense behind the dish and worked very well with the pitchers this season. Getting offensive production from a catcher is a premium, and Vegas has played both sides of the ball extremely well in his first season with the Crushers.

A couple models of consistency in 2025 have been Dario Gomez and Davie Morgan. Gomez joined the team at the end of May and has played platinum glove defense in center field while also being very handy with the bat. He’s hitting .291 on the year and is the type of hitter to get red-hot for a week or so. Against the Slammers at the start of July, Gomez went 8-for-13 (.615 average) in three games.

Davie Morgan has a bit of a different story, but it’s equally as impressive. Morgan was signed in the offseason and made his professional debut in New York at the onset of the season. He hit his first pro home run in his first start and has followed it up with a .287 batting average, 51 hits (2nd on the team) and 23 RBIs as he played his way into becoming the starting second baseman. Morgan has been a mainstay in the lineup, rarely getting a day off, and the Crushers have leaned on his consistency in the first half of the season.

The Work is Far From Over

First place in the division and a 29-25 record sounds all fine and dandy, but there is a full second half of baseball yet to be played. If the season was 54 games long the Crushers would be in good shape.

But this isn’t college anymore. This is the real deal.

The Crushers are looking to get back to the Frontier League Playoffs for the second time in as many years since 2014. Lake Erie got back to the playoffs in 2024 for the first time since 2019 with a 51-44 record and a second half around .500. 

This year’s Crushers are looking for so much more. The words “Lake Erie” have become synonymous with a pitching factory. Teams pray they’ll miss having to face Escobar or Eisenbarger, but then be met with Dylan Spain, Darrien Ragins, and Ethan Smith who will likely shut them down anyway. And heaven forbid the offense goes nuclear like it did in the first week of the season. When the Crushers are hitting well, they have juggernaut potential.

Any combination of starters is plenty capable of winning a playoff series. The Crushers won the one-game Wild Card in 2024. This season the first round is a three-game series. Jared Lemieux has done an excellent job crafting a deep roster with playoff potential written all over it, and time will tell if Lorain County’s team can make it back to the promised land and snag their first championship since their inception in 2009.

Come Join the Push

Lake Erie will be back in action at home after the All-Star Break on Friday, July 18th at 7:05pm against the Evansville Otters at Crushers Stadium. Get tickets online at lakeeriecrushers.com!

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.