[tm1681]

LAKE ERIE BEATS SPORTSMAN’S IN 35-RUN THRILLER
HOSTS ERASE ELEVEN-RUN DEFICIT & WIN VIA WALKOFF; DE BOER FINISHES WITH FIVE HITS & SIX RBI

ERIE, PENN. (July 13, 1876) - Sportsman’s & Lake Erie are both having extremely forgettable seasons, but on Thursday afternoon at the Tenth Street Grounds in Erie the two put on a tremendous show for the fans:

The game started off rather inconspicuously, with just two runs over the first three innings and visiting Sportsman’s exiting them with a 2-0 lead. That was when the fun started.

Sportsman’s scored three times in T4 to increase their lead, but Lake Erie immediately countered with three runs on a bases-clearing Triple by 2B Koos de Boer to make it a 5-3 game. Sportsman’s then scored half a dozen times in T5, the key hit a two-run Single by 2B William Gibson, to make it 11-3. Two more runs in the 6th were followed by another in the 7th, and Sportsman’s, holders of the worst record in the N.E.L., had a seemingly insurmountable eleven-run lead at 14-3.

Lake Erie put up a five-run rally in B7 to cut the deficit to six (14-8), with 3B Andrew Brannon’s two-run Single the key hit. Sportsman’s responded with a trio of tallies in T8 to bring the lead back to nine (17-8), but Lake Erie put up eight runs in B8, two-run Singles by de Boer & Brannon the important moments, to slash the lead to a single run at 17-16.

Sportsman’s were sat down in order in T9, meaning Lake Erie needed a run to force extra frames and two to take an incredible comeback victory. C George Keller led off the inning with a Single, and de Boer followed with a Single (to 2B via Error) that moved Keller over to third. PH William Ferreira then moved the runners with a Ground Out to 1B that evened the score. After a Fielder’s Choice nabbed de Boer at home, LF Declan Smith cracked a Double past the head of the First Baseman that allowed Brannon to dash around the bases and give Lake Erie a most memorable victory.

B9 leadoff man Keller had a fine game (4/5, 4 R, 1 RBI), but de Boer was the man of the afternoon for Lake Erie:

• B2: Strike Out Swinging (2 out)
• B4: 3-run Triple to RCF off J. Dietrich
• B6: Single to RCF off J. Dietrich
• B7: 2-run Single to LF off J. Dietrich (R)
• B8: 1-run Single past 2B off L. Stocks (R)
• B9: Single to LF off W. Harper
• TOTAL: 5/6 (3B, 7 RBI), 2 R, 6 RBI, 92 GMSC

It was both a clutch and desperately needed performance for de Boer, a Greenhorn who entered the game with a .185 Batting Average (.443) OPS, 25 Runs Batted In, and negative WAR through 46 games as Lake Erie’s 2B in his debut season. De Boer’s 5/6 day raised his Average to .207 (.494 OPS) and his RBI total to 31, and while de Boer’s WAR remains in the negative at -0.5 it’s no longer close to -1.0.

Lake Erie and Sportsman’s are basically playing for pride at this point. At 17-30, Lake Erie is still mathematically in playoff contention but they’re twenty games behind Inland leaders Susquehanna with 23 games remaining in the season. Sportsman’s has been eliminated from playoff contention. Their 13-34 record is the worst in the N.E.L. and has them two dozen games behind Susquehanna with the same 23 games left, and it’s also on pace to be by far the worst season in team history, with the previous worst being a 28-42 record in 1861.