AVON, Ohio — The Schaumburg Boomers gained ground in the race for the Frontier League’s West Division title by recording a 6-5 win in sudden death over the Lake Erie Crushers in Ohio on Wednesday night.

Lake Erie was able to start the offense in the first inning for the second consecutive contest, taking a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch. The Boomers tied the game in the second. Chase Dawson opened the second inning with a single before stealing second, his 44th stole base of the season to set the franchise’s single season mark. Dawson owns 44 steals in 47 tries to break a tie with Alec Craig who swiped 43 in his first season with the team in 2021. Dawson came in to score the tying run on a fielder’s choice from Zach Huffins.

The homestanding Crushers opened a 2-1 lead behind a run in the third but the Boomers were able to score three times in the fifth to take the lead. Travis Holt posted a two-run single with the bases loaded to put Schaumburg ahead while a third run scored on a throwing error. Lake Erie pulled within a run in the bottom of the inning. A two-out RBI single from Sean Cheely in the bottom of the eighth tied the game.

Both teams were able to score the international tiebreaker runner in the 10th with Holt driving home his third of the game with two outs. Lake Erie, playing in sudden death for the first time this year, opted for defense. Blake Grant-Parks opened the inning with an opposite field single to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, longest of the year by a member of the Boomers. Following an intentional walk to load the bases Kokko Figueiredo lifted a sacrifice fly to score the winning run and beat his former team. The sudden death contest was the fourth of the year for the Boomers, who have twice celebrated a walkoff win on the road.

Jake Joyce earned the win. Joyce was the fourth reliever of the contest for the Boomers. Austin Gossmann, claimed off of waivers over the weekend, made his Schaumburg debut on the mound and departed with the lead, working five innings and allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts. The offense managed just six hits but came away with the win. Dawson tallied two hits along with Holt.

The Boomers (46-33) pulled to within two games of first by virtue of Gateway being shutout at Washington. The series with Lake Erie will conclude on Thursday night at 6:05pm. RHP Luis Perez (5-4, 4.45) is slated to start for the Boomers against LHP Jonaiker Villalobos (2-3, 7.08). The team still has nine home dates left on the schedule and will return to Wintrust Field on August 22 to open a six-game homestand. Don’t miss out on your chance to catch the Boomers in the playoff race. Visit boomersbaseball.com or call 847-461-3695 to secure your tickets to a game before summer is gone and ensure you don’t miss out on the fun.