wcthunderbolts.com

The ThunderBolts continued their offensive dominance on the second day of the Frontier League season with a 13-5 victory over the Lake Erie Crushers at Standard Bank Stadium on Friday night.

Windy City scored early and often, jumping on Lake Erie starter Travis Risser for a run in the first inning on a Ryan Basham RBI single. They score four times in the second, thanks in large part, to a Nick Mahin two-out error. Chase Porch had already knocked in Nick Kuroczko for the inning’s first run when Brandon Anderson reached safely on the defensive miscue. After the inning was kept alive, Basham and Zach Aakhus each came up with RBI hits to give the Bolts a 5-0 lead.

Lake Erie scored in the third and Windy City added single runs in the third and sixth innings making it 7-1 heading into a wild seventh.

Dustin Williams departed after six strong innings in which he allowed just one unearned run, and the Crushers notched three runs in the top of the seventh against Jesse Oster.

The ThunderBolts answered, though, with six in the bottom of the inning. Anderson, Aakhus, Chris Wade and Kuroczko all came up with run-scoring hits in the frame that put the game away.

Overall, the ThunderBolts ended up with 20 hits, including four for Aakhus, and were greatly aided by seven Crusher errors. Williams (1-0) recorded the win and Risser (0-1) took the loss, lasting just three innings.

The Bolts go for a series sweep Saturday night at 7:05. Matt Costello will take the mound for Windy City against Lake Erie’s Andrew Weeks. Fireworks will follow the game in Crestwood. WXAV 88.3 fm and wxav.com will have the audio broadcast, with pregame starting at 6:45.