Game Recap

Y’alls Dropped by Crushers to Open Series

FLORENCE, KY – The Florence Y’alls (32-44), presented by Towne Properties, allowed runs in bunches and saw their offense fall quiet in an 8-3 loss to the Lake Erie Crushers (30-46) on Friday.

Facing Lake Erie for the first time since May, the Y’alls fell behind by multiple runs in the second inning. Lake Erie’s first extended rally of the night plated three runs against Y’alls’ starter Bobby Brabrand (7.0 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K). Back-to-back one-out hits from shortstop Jarrod Watkins and second baseman Kenen Irizarry set up center fielder Collin Mathews, who doubled both home to give the Crushers their first lead of the day. On the same play, a throwing error brought Mathews home as he advanced to third base on a cutoff throw, giving Lake Erie an unearned run and a 3-0 lead.

The Crushers brought home another pair in the fifth inning. Three straight singles started the inning, with the third off the bat of designated hitter Scout Knotts bringing home a run. Right fielder Hector Roa’s two-out double scored Knotts all the way from first to make it 5-0 Lake Erie heading into the bottom of the fifth.

Florence struck back for its first run of the day in the fifth when shortstop Ed Johnson hit a solo home run, but the blast represented the only scoring the Y’alls would tally against former Y’all and Lake Erie starter Jonaiker Villalobos (6.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K). The Crushers held a 5-1 lead into the eighth inning before the Y’alls cut into the advantage. Third baseman Brian Fuentes’ sacrifice fly to score Ed Johnson from third base brought in a run against Lake Erie righthander Brayden Bonner, but Florence quickly fell behind again in the ninth.

The Crushers put the game away with another three-run burst in the top of the ninth. Left fielder Jiandido Tromp hit a leadoff home run before four of the next five Lake Erie hitters reached base. Hector Roa’s RBI single and Jarrod Watkins’ RBI double extended the Lake Erie lead to 8-2. In the ninth, righthander Sam Curtis allowed a run but closed out the game to give Lake Erie its third win over Florence in four games this year.

The Y’alls resume the series against Lake Erie in Game 2 on Saturday, August 12th. First pitch is scheduled from Thomas More Stadium at 6:36 p.m. ET.

The Florence Y’alls are Northern Kentucky’s professional baseball team, and are proud members of the independent Frontier League, an MLB Partner League. With a purposeful focus on entertaining our fans, the Y’alls provide affordable, family-friendly entertainment. Y’alls home games are played at Thomas More Stadium, located at 7950 Freedom Way in Florence, Kentucky. More details can be found online at florenceyalls.com (http://florenceyalls.com/) or by phone at (859) 594-4487.