AVON — The Crushers sure picked a great time to hit the second grand slam they’ve ever hit at All Pro Freight Stadium.

As a result, there will an all-or-nothing Game 5 to decide the new Frontier League champion.

After Stephen Flake walked the bases loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Andrew Davis clubbed a 3-2 pitch over the center-field wall for a grand slam, lifting the Crushers to a 4-1 Game 4 win in front of 3,055 fans Monday night.

The slam not only erased a 1-0 deficit, but also broke up a no-hitter being thrown by Flake, who was the opposing starting pitcher in the first Crushers game ever played at the Freight.

“There‘s not a bigger player in this league this year than Andrew Davis,” Crushers manager John Massarelli said. “He‘s a clutch performer. Big players rise in big games.”

After Flake retired Eddie Tisdale and Arden McWilliams, he issued back-to-back-to-back walks to No. 9 hitter Todd Balduf, Jodam Rivera and Drew Saylor (on four pitches), setting up Davis’ heroics.

“I really don‘t have much to say about it,” said Davis, who went 1-for-3 with the homer and four RBIs. “I got up there, he got ahead of me and I was trying to battle like our team‘s done all year. I worked a full count and got a fastball to hit. I just tried to put a good swing on it, and good things happen.”

The next time Davis came up to bat, in the seventh, he received a standing ovation.

Game 5 is set for Wednesday in O’Fallon, Mo. River City will go with its ace, Josh Lowey, while the Crushers will go with Game 2 starter Cardoza Tucker.

Massarelli did say that Frontier League Pitcher of the Year Paul Fagan, who won Sunday’s Game 3, will be ready and available out of the bullpen.

The Rascals made some great defensive plays to keep the Crushers hitless through the first four innings. Scott Houin robbed Davis of a home run in the first inning and left fielder Chad Maddox made a running, diving catch along the warning track to rob Tisdale of a hit to end the second inning.

Also, Gordon Gronkowski crushed a ball in the second that landed over the grassy knoll in left, but just hooked foul.

“Those first three innings, you would have thought something had snake-bitten us,” Massarelli said. “Houin made a great play to rob Davis in the first, Maddox makes a great play in left field, (Tim) Binkoski hits a bullet right to the second baseman, who doubles up Gordy (in the second). But the guys stayed after it and it paid off in the fifth.”

Following the slam, the air seemed to be sucked out of the Rascals’ sails. Over the last four innings, River City was held hitless and only two batters reached base.

That was also due, in no small part, to the combined relief effort of Josh Faiola (who earned the win), Jacinto Gonell, Alberto Rolon and J.J. Pacella. They threw six innings of scoreless baseball, holding the Rascals to three hits, no runs and two walks with four strikeouts.

“We wouldn’t have been able to come back without the pitching effort,” Massarelli said. “If we’re down three or four in that situation, then it’s completely different. The fact that it’s a 1-0 game, you’ve got to pitch to have that happen.

“It all works together — pitching, hitting, defense. The pitching is what kept us in the ballgame. (Starter Brett) Lysander did a nice job, Faiola picks up the win, Gonell does a nice job, not to mention my two closers (Rolon and Pacella).”

Lysander gave up a run in the first inning after giving up back-to-back-to-back hits to start the game. Maddox drove in the run on an RBI single. But Lysander got out of it by coaxing a double-play grounder by Ernie Banks and a groundout to short by Ryan Wehrle.

Lysander got another double play to end the second inning, and only allowed one more hit before being lifted in the fourth.

“Actually, Lysander was only going to go three,” Massarelli said. “He was going on three days’ rest and he’s not 100 percent. The kid’s gutsy, man. We knew that coming in. He wanted to go five or six, but I told him, ‘Just give me three.’ He started to pitch better in the third, and I said, ‘Give me one more.’ A great performance.”

Faiola also allowed three hits in his first inning of work, but got out of the jam with a strikeout, a caught stealing by Balduf and a fielder’s choice grounder that resulted in a force at second.

“We kind of knew going into it that it was going to be pretty much everyone going in the bullpen, maybe a couple of people in the stands, whatever we had to do to win that ballgame,” said Faiola, who will be the subject of a future ESPN documentary. “I had my slider working today and I threw a couple of good changeups and hit good spots when I needed to. They’re a pretty good hitting team, and Baldy called a great game.”

Pacella allowed a leadoff walk to Banks in the ninth, but came back with two strikeouts and a pop out to Rivera to short to end the game to earn his second save in as many nights and send the series back to Missouri.

“We’re taking this thing,” Pacella said. “Everyone’s loose right now. The boys are ready to roll. We had everyone in full force — pitchers are doing their job, defense was awesome. We’re taking this back to River City and we’re going to bring home a championship.”

Next up

• Who: Lake Erie Crushers at River City Rascals
• What: Game 5 of the Frontier League final; Best-of-five series is tied, 2-2
• When: Wednesday, 8:05 p.m.
• Where: T.R. Hughes Ballpark, O’Fallon, Mo.
• Pitchers: Cardoza Tucker (4-0, 2.63 ERA) vs. Josh Lowey (0-2, 2.94)
• Webcast: Live on LakeErieCrushers.com.

Contact Dan Gilles at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---