wcthunderbolts.com

AVON, OH – After 11 and a half innings of scoreless baseball, Aaron Hill scored a run on a passed ball to lead the Lake Erie Crushers to a 1-0 win over the ThunderBolts at Sprenger Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Tyler Thornton started for the ThunderBolts (1-3) and former ThunderBolt Patrick Ledet got the starting nod for Lake Erie (2-1) and both men were dominant on the mound. Ledet retired the first 11 batters he faced and Thornton set down 17 of the first 18.

The ThunderBolts put their first man in scoring position in the sixth inning, when David Oppenheim and Shane Carrier drew back-to-back walks with two outs. Ledet came back to strike out Dash Winningham to end the threat.

In the seventh inning, Jake Veith walked and Emmanuel Marrero doubled to put runners at second and third with one out but Thornton retired the next two batters to keep his shutout intact.

Neither team put another runner in scoring position until the 11th inning, when the tiebreaker rule kicked in. The Bolts got men at the corners with no outs in the top of the 11th but a strikeout and a double play kept them off the board.

In the bottom of the inning, Connor Mayes struck out the first two batters and stranded Lake Erie’s runner at second base. ThunderBolts pitchers finished the game with 14 strikeouts.

A bunt single opened the bottom of the 12th for Lake Erie and, after an intentional walk loaded the bases, the passed ball scored Hill to end the game.

Tanner Thomas (1-0) threw a scoreless inning out of the bullpen for his first career win and Chris Washington (0-1) was charged with the loss.

The ThunderBolts will take Monday off before opening their home schedule on Tuesday at 7:05, when they welcome the Evansville Otters to town. Adam Oller (0-1, 1.50) will make the start for the Bolts. All tickets at Ozinga Field will be just two dollars on $2 Ticket Tuesday. Fans not in attendance can hear the broadcast on WXAV, 88.3 FM and wxav.com.