AVON – All the dramatics from the night before were missing Sunday at All Pro Freight Stadium.

So was the result.

After pulling off a come-from-behind win Saturday on a walk-off home run, the Crushers couldn’t even get the ball to bounce right for them Sunday in a 1-0 loss to Windy City that closed out the three-game series.

The Crushers saw their best scoring opportunity wasted when an overthrow by ThunderBolt shortstop Mike Torres hit the facing of the Crushers’ dugout enabling third baseman Nick Kuroczko to throw out Arden McWilliams at the plate in the fifth inning.

“How about that?” Crushers manager John Massarelli said. “It’s a game of inches. It’s a different ballgame if that ball pops straight up like it should when it hits that. Nothing Arden could do. He reacted and went, but the ball hits and lines right back to the guy (Kuroczko).

“It’s a game of inches. We got the inch (Saturday) night – inch over the wall – but they got that inch today.”

Starting pitcher Josh Roberts lost for the first time in six decisions but it certainly wasn’t his fault. Roberts worked seven strong innings and Alberto Rolon followed with two hitless innings in relief. Roberts’ only mistake – a third-inning drive to left-center by designated hitter J.T. Restko – hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double.

Restko moved to third on Kuroczko’s single to right and scored on Gilberto Mejia’s sacrifice fly.

Southpaw Brent Solich, a native of the Dayton area, kept the Crushers off the board. He wasn’t overpowering, striking out just two, but Lake Erie only had two players reach third – McWilliams and Dom Duggan in the fifth inning.

“They were strike one, strike two all day,” Massarelli said of the starting pitchers. “Key to pitching is location and staying ahead on the count.”

“How about that?” Crusher coach John Massarelli said. “It’s a game of inches. It’s a different ballgame if that ball pops straight up like it should when it hits that. Nothing Arden could do. He reacted and went, but the ball hits and lines right back to the guy (Kuroczko).

“It’s a game of inches. We got the inch (Saturday) night – inch over the wall – but they got that inch today.”

Starting pitcher Josh Roberts lost for the first time in six decisions but it certainly wasn’t his fault. Roberts worked seven strong innings and Alberto Rolon followed with two hitless innings in relief. Roberts’ only mistake – a third-inning drive to left-center by designated hitter J.T. Restko – hopped over the fence for a ground-rule double.

Restko moved to third on Kuroczko’s single to right and scored on a sacrifice fly by Gilberto Mejia.

Southpaw Brent Solich, a native of the Dayton area, kept the Crushers off the board. He wasn’t overpowering, striking out just two, but Lake Erie only had two players reach third – McWilliams and Dom Duggan in the fifth inning.

“They were strike one, strike two all day,” Massarelli said of the starting pitchers. “Key to pitching is location and staying ahead on the count.”

“I got in a good rhythm out there,” said Solich, who came in with a losing record and an ERA of 4.08, but completely baffled the Crushers. “I felt good. Everything was working for me. I was just trying to get ahead and keep them off-balance.”

Windy City did commit three errors – two coming in that wild fifth inning – but they did no damage. The Thunderbolts turned one double play to close out the third inning after back-to-back singles by Duggan and Jodam Rivera.

The Crushers had one last opportunity in the ninth. Joel Collins, who had two hits and reached base all four times up, led off the inning with a single to center. Trae Gore came in to run and was sacrificed to second by Travis Vetters. That finished the night for Solich and brought on Nick Hall, the victim of Andrew Davis’ ninth-inning walk-off homer Saturday.

Raphael Turner, batting for Wayne Bond, drew a walk, but McWilliams flied out to right and Duggan grounded out to short to end the game giving Hall his seventh save of the year and Solich his fourth win in nine decisions.

“The team played really great behind me,” said Solich, who had several relatives and friends in attendance. “My defense made the plays when they needed to make them. My team fought really hard to get that one run. I’m glad I was able to make that one run count.

“(Saturday) was tough – being ahead by three runs. (Lake Erie) did a good job of getting timely hits. (Hall) is really good at facing adversity. Sometimes things don’t always go your way and he just buckled down and got the job done.”

Contact Tim Gebhardt at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.

TONIGHT

• WHO: Lake Erie Crushers vs. Traverse City Beach Bums
• TIME: 7:05
• WHERE: All Pro Freight Stadium, Avon

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