Watkins, Parks Power 10-Run 7th as Crushers Sit Down Bird Dawgs

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Watkins, Parks Power 10-Run 7th as Crushers Sit Down Bird Dawgs

Avon, OH - August 9, 2026 - The Lake Erie Crushers (31-46) took a little while to churn their wheels on Sunday afternoon at ForeFront Field, but a 10-run 7th inning came just in time to take down the Down East Bird Dawgs (34-44) in a 15-4 win.

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RHP Fraynel Nova was coming off one of the best starts of the year for the Crushers, and he started off with two perfect innings on Sunday. In the 3rd, though, he surrendered his first hit of the game, then nearly had a strikeout on what looked to be a good two-strike pitch to 3B Kenny Levari. The pitch was called a ball, then Levari went down and fished out a slider beneath the zone and deposited it over the right field wall for a two-run homer.

While unfortunate for Nova, he got one of those runs back in the bottom of the 3rd on an RBI single by Jarrod Watkins. Watkins has been fantastic with runners in scoring position all season, and this wouldn’t be the last time he’d strike in the game.

Watkins drove in a run on another RBI single in the 5th to tie the game, then 1B Jacob Tobias gave Lake Erie the lead with an RBI single of his own. The Crushers led 3-2, and Nova was back into form.

Nova had bounced back after the home run by retiring ten straight batters and pitched into the 6th inning. After getting the first out, he ran into some trouble with the top of the lineup. After three straight singles - none hit hard - and a sacrifice fly, the Bird Dawgs flipped the score again and led 4-3. Nova came out with two outs in the inning for LHP Kenny Pierson, who finished off the inning with no further damage. 

It was another case of an unlucky Nova outing. He was dominant in four of the six innings he threw in, going 1-2-3 in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th while in the other two frames he got no benefit of a call and then got dinked and dunked out of the game. Despite all that, Nova finished with a respectable final line: 5 ⅔ IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K on 82 pitches.

Leading 4-3 in the 7th, Down East turned to RHP Zac Flontek, who gave up singles to LF Joe Redfield and Jarrod Watkins to lead off the inning. Then he walked 3B Chayton Krauss and Jacob Tobias, which forced in the tying run and left the bases loaded with still nobody out in the inning. C Nick Chavez cashed in with a go-ahead RBI single to make it 5-4 Crushers, then the floodgates opened.

Flontek lost all control and plunked 2B Luis Acevedo to force in a run, then he walked CF Nathan Archer to force in another. Retiring just one batter, Down East went to the bullpen, but they fared no better. In fact, they fared far worse.

RHP Elian Almanzar, who was activated off the 14-Day IL before the game, walked both Joe Redfield and Jarrod Watkins to force in two more runs. Then the kill shot came from DH Pavin Parks, who blasted a 413-foot moonblast off the scoreboard beyond the right field fence for a grand slam, his 16th home run of the season. The blast made it 13-4 Lake Erie, and it was smooth sailing from there.

When the dust settled, 14 Crushers hit in the inning, and 10 of them crossed home plate in the biggest offensive inning of the season for Lake Erie.

Parks went out to the mound to finish off the final six outs, and Joe Redfield added on a two-run single in the 8th for good measure. With a little help from a fantastic double play in the top of the 9th started by Jarrod Watkins, Parks finished off the 15-4 laugher as the Crushers salvaged the final game of the weekend series against Down East.

Jarrod Watkins had a fantastic day on all fronts. He was 4-for-5 with a double, three RBIs, two runs, a walk, and two Gold Glove-caliber plays at shortstop to lift Lake Erie to a big win.

The Crushers will hit the road for a six-game road trip starting Tuesday night in Florence starting at 6:50pm ET. They will play the Y’alls for three games before heading to Evansville to take on the Otters in a weekend series. The Crushers return home on August 18th at 6:30pm. 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.