2008 PONY State Districts Runner-Up. 

2008 PONY Regional Champions. 

 

 Crush Shoot For The Fences At Duck Lake Shoot Out

   MILFORD - Crush Nation enjoyed an awesome weekend of baseball action under the scorching hot summer sun!  The boys took 4 out of 5 games - beating good teams from Columbus, Ohio, Oakland County and Yspilanti - to finish second in the Duck Lake Shoot Out at the beautiful Central Park in Milford. 

   Strong pitching, big bats and great defense all played a part of quality games, with a sensational come from behind win in the closing seconds of the semi-finals to move the Crush kids into the Championship.  Well played, boys... and now onto the BIG show... the PONY tourney in Grand Ledge!

 

 

   DEARBORN - In a big double-header with international implications, Dearborn came out swinging against the Riverside Royals.  The Crush kids played fine hosts to the Canadian boys from just across the river, showing them every courtesy - except for allowing them to win!

   Dante Yglesias pounded the ball hard through both games, and Brandon Katona's baserunning helped make for exciting and tense action. Defense in the field was superb throughout the night.  Game 1 cruised to a 7-2 final score behind solid pitching from Brendan Cotter and Alex Collins, while Matt Fleming took the hill for Game 2.

   The Royals showed they have skills too, charging to an early 7-1 lead in the nightcap, but Crush Nation was undaunted. A big 6 run inning tied it up, and then another big inning pushed Dearborn ahead for good.  Andrew VanArsdale stepped in for relief and shut down the Royals, striking out the final batter just before 11pm, ending in a 14-8 win.

 

 

 

 

 

      TRENTON - Finally, the skies parted and once again baseball could be played in Crush Nation!  Brendan Cotter took the hill for an outstanding start, keeping the Travelers under control for the most part in 4 innings, followed by Alex Collins and John 'Bookie' Beuckelaere to close out the first win of the season.  (We're not even going to mention those other few ugly games that started the year)

      Crush bats were back in full swing for big innings and strong hitting with doubles from Devin Michaelis and a base-clearing triple from Jeremy Johnson.  Though the Crush kids never gave up the lead, the pesky Trenton boys managed to peck away at the score, ending in with 13-8 victory. 

      A tip of the hat to the men in Blue who had to make a call to Abner Doubleday to sort out some of the lesser known rules of the game.  Overheard in the dugout- from base-runner interference to when to count and not count a run, this one included every call in the book!

 

 

 

FARMINGTON - What a wash-out all the way around at the Wolves May Day Classic... in the number of runs, the number of wins and even the number of games played.  The Crush kids came out of the gate in competitive style, taking an early lead on a team from Pittsburgh, PA.  Newbie Alex Collins led off with a single and scored the first run of the new year.  After the Diamond Dawgs notched a few, Brendan Cotter smacked a 2-RBI double to knot it up at 3-3.  Then, some early season rustiness began to show, and through basic bunts and a few walks Pitt took a 7-3 lead.  Jeremy Johnson and Devin Michaelis gave the ball a ride, but not quite enough to seal a comeback.  In game 2, the Crush bats just couldn't get cranking and before long Clarkston tallied up an 8-0 win.   Certainly the first win was waiting for the boys from Dearborn on Sunday morning, but the chance never came.  Despite the heroic efforts of the Farmington grounds crew, terenchal rains washed away everything - from the chaulk lines on the base paths to home plate itself!  Well, at least we didn't have to drive home two states away!  Now, on to the regular season!    

 

 

It's been a very busy off-season for the Crush 'front office' with the 'acquisition' of several new players.  Now it's time to get busy on the field!  The Crush kids are ready to swing those bats and are fired up for their first tournament of the year, leading right in to regular season games... (though a few of boys look to start the season already on the disabled list.)  Welcome to Crush Nation, Devin, Dante, Tyler, Alex and Jeremy!

 

 

 

7-20-10

DEARBORN - The 12U Dearborn Crush hosted the Livonia Rattlers Tuesday evening in a non-league exhibition game. Great pitching and timely hitting proved too much for the Snakes as the Crush cruised in for the victory.

Brendan Cotter was the starting pitcher and breezed through 3 innings allowing only one run. Cotter proved very efficient throwing first pitch strikes to 9 of the 10 batters he faced. The Crush offense lagged in the early and mid innings. The only scoring came in the second inning when Alex Barkoff hit a 2 RBI single scoring Austyn Ramos who walked and John Beuckelaere who reached on a base hit. Then again in the third inning Matt Buhagiar singled and Austyn Ramos scored him on an RBI ground out.

Andrew Vanarsdale entered the game and pitched three innings giving up only one earned run while striking out 5 batters and allowed no walks. The Crush bats remained silent until the sixth inning. Finally the offense came alive. John Lemieux led the inning with a walk and Austyn Ramos crushed an RBI triple into the left-center gap then scored himself on a passed ball. Bueckelaere and Barkoff reached base and Malek Rammouni's RBI scored Bueckelaere. Joey Caruso's sacrifice fly to right field scored Barkoff and Cotter's RBI single scored Rammouni.

Austyn Ramos came in to pitch the top of the seventh just to get some valuable game experience at the position he is currently learning. He lasted one third of the inning and was replaced by John Lemieux who only needed seven pitches to retire the final two batters. In the end 8 Crush players crossed the plate and 6 snakes managed to slither home.

6-18-10
2 Out Of 3 Ain't Bad...But It Ain't Good Enough For Crush At Farmington.

FARMINGTON HILLS - The Dearborn Crush 12U was undefeated coming out of the first day of pool play at the Wolves End of Summer Round Up Tournament. The boys played solid baseball on Saturday beating both the WLSA Arsenal and Michigan Warhawks. Sunday morning's 8AM game against the Motor City Hit Dogs was a different story. Sloppy play against a very good team resulted in a mercy ended game for the Crush and a few too many runs given up kept them from  proceeding in the tournament.

The first game on Saturday saw the Dearborn Crush play WLSA Arsenal. Matt Buhagiar pitched a complete game striking out 12 batters while giving up only one run. His command was excellent as he issued only 2 base on balls in the six inning effort.  Crush Batters got up early on the Arsenal and it was a good thing because they scored no runs after the second inning. Brendan Cotter went 3 for 3 with 2 RBI  and a run scored.  John Lemieux continued his hot streak going 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run. Mo Zahr got on base every plate appearance and came around to score once. Matt Fleming and John Beuckelaere both singled. Final score Crush 4, Arsenal 1.

Game two also saw the starting pitcher complete the game. John Beuckelaere went five strong innings giving up only two earned runs. Offensively the Crush peppered the Warhawks. Once again John Lemieux singled twice getting an RBI both times and scoring twice. Alex Barkoff came up big with two doubles and four RBI. Matt Fleming went 3 for 3 and scored twice. Malek Ramouni went 2 for 3 and scored a run. Austyn Ramos and Andrew Vanarsdale both had RBI doubles. Matt Buhagiar chipped in with a single and a run scored. Final score Crush 12, Warhawks 3.

Sundays game against the Motor City Hit Dogs didn't go nearly as well as the previous two. The Hit Dogs are a select team that can clearly capitalize on walks and errors and that's just what they did. The mercy shortened game lasted only three innings. John Lemieux singled in the second but was left stranded. The Crush seemed to get something going in the top of the third inning when Matt Flemming singled and Malek Rammouni walked right after. Then John Beuckelaere hit a shot down the left field line scoring Fleming. Joey Caruso came up and singled sharply to right field loading the bases with only one out but thats where it ended. Hit Dogs 13, Crush 1.

7-13=10

RIVERVIEW - The Dearborn Crush that shined at Cooperstown All Star Village didn't show up against the Trenton Travelers in their league semifinal playoff match up. The Travelers are a good team but they were nowhere near as good as the competition the Crush faced at Cooperstown. The Dearborn players had many miscues in this game but the bottom line is this: Crush pitchers walked one third of the batters they faced on the day. The Crush allowed four unearned runs on 10 combined errors and passed balls. Even though the Crush allowed only five hits they were unable to hang on under the circumstances.

Joe Caruso slowly walked to his car after only the third inning of the troubling loss. He was ejected while sitting on the bench in a discussion with the umpires. The umpires asked for the discussion to end but Coach Caruso wasn't exactly finished. Caruso walked with his black bag in hand to the visiting clubhouse for an early shower. Unlike Felix The Cat's magic bag, Coach Caruso's bag held no tricks. The game ended Travelers 13, Crush 2.

"I've been coaching for 15 years and this is the first time I've ever been ejected" stated Caruso at his post game discussion with the media. "The umpires were correct in their decision to boot me. My frustration and subsequent ejection surely didn't help matters and I apologize to my team and Crush Nation." The league Director of Baseball operations will review the matter and decide whether further action will be taken against Caruso or any of the other coaches but that seems highly unlikely at this time. Seymour Butz, League Whip  Cracker, has stated "We consider the matter closed. It's been a good season and we look forward to a great next year too".

The Dearborn Crush play in the Wolves End of Summer Round Up Tournament this weekend and then again at the CABA World Series at the end of the month.

ONEONTA, NY - A confident and determined Dearborn Crush team entered field 31 to face the Channahon Indians in their Elite Eight match up Wednesday evening. As the Indians took the field there were chants of "check their birth certificates" and "hey pitcher, you parked your car in the loading zone" as several of their players were over six foot tall. No matter, the Dearborn Crush came to battle...and battle they did.

Matt Buhagiar pitched six innings strong giving up only three earned runs to a very good hitting team. Buhagiar shut the Indians down offensively after the third inning. It was clearly one of his best pitching performances of the year.

Both Indian pitchers threw heat. It took a while for Crush batters to zone in but when they did they started to put the ball in play in the late innings. Joey Caruso rifled a single into deep right-center field in the fifth inning. Brandan Katona legged out an infield base hit in the sixth inning which started the Crush late game threat. John Beuckelaere then launched a hit that only stayed in the park due to the inward upstate breeze. With man on first and third, Malek Rammouni knocked in Katona with an RBI ground out. That was all the Crush could muster and the game ended Indians 5, Crush 1.

The boys came to Cooperstown a good baseball team. They will leave Cooperstown after tonight's closing ceremonies a brotherhood of great young men. They came and they battled. They lived together and they played together. They became better players and they became better people. The coaches could not be more proud of each and every one of the boys. The tears that were shed at the end of the last game were not tears of frustration or immaturity. They were tears of a battle worn team that wanted nothing more than to compete and battle on.

Nobody expected the Dearborn Crush to come to Cooperstown and go 5 and 1 in pool play. Nobody expected these boys to compete at a level that would give them a number six seed going into the elimination rounds. Certainly nobody would have expected the team representing Dearborn to enter the Elite Eight. 

Hold your heads high Dearborn Crush you've made Crush Nation proud!

ONEONTA, NY - The boys from Dearborn did it again. They won their first game of the bracketed play in a tough win against the Tri-County Bulldogs. They will play again Wednesday evening at 7:30 PM.

Malek Rammouni pitched five strong innings giving up five earned runs. Brendan Cotter's bat came alive with him going 2 for 3 and coming around to score both times -- once by Matt Buhagiar's home run jack to right field. John Lemieux continued his hot streak going 3 for 3 and scoring twice. Mo Zahr came alive by going 2 for 3, scoring once and getting an RBI every at bat. Brandon Katona rocked an RBI single and Joey Caruso Rocketed a double off the center field wall.

Matt Buhagiar came in for the save in the sixth and made quick work of the Bulldogs by striking out two and getting a ground ball out to shortstop. Final score Crush 9, Bulldogs 7.

The boys from Dearborn are rolling along after their second day of games at the Cooperstown All Star Village. Pitching has been stellar. Crush pitchers have given up only 12 runs after 4 games while issuing only 4 walks. Crush hitters are doing great up and down the line up.

Game 3 saw Brendan Cotter take the hill against the Indiana White Cats. Cotter dominated giving up only 3 hits and one walk in the mercy rule four inning game. Only one White Cat run came across to score on a passed ball. Every Crush hitter put the ball in play and/or reached base or scored. Alex Barkoff hit a 2-run homer and Austyn Ramos nailed a game ending grand slam. Final score: Crush 12, White Cats 1.

The Crush faced a very tough East Lansing Tigers in their fourth game. John Beuckelaere started the game and pitched to contact and allowed 6 runs while issuing no walks. Andrew Vanarsdale came in the game in the 5th inning and strategically pitched to four batters then Beuckelaere came back for the final out. Joey Caruso went 2 for 4 with a 2 run double and an RBI single. Malek Rammouni smacked his second home run of the tournament. With the game tied, Austyn Ramos hit his third single which scored what would be the game winning run. Matt Buhagiar got the save by coming in to pitch the 6th. It only took him 15 pitches to do it and recorded 2 strike outs along the way. Final score: Crush 8, Tigers 7.

ONEONTA, NY - The 12U Crush came out with a bang in Cooperstown tournament at All Star Village. The Beat the Tri-County (NJ) Bulldogs 7-0 in their first outing and trounced the Jersey Shore Jaguars 13-4  in their Second effort.

The Tri-County Bulldogs had no chance against Matt Buhagiar on the hill. He allowed only one hit in six shut out innings and struck out 10 of the 20 batters he faced. Buhagiar helped himself out with two run jack in the fifth inning. Joey Caruso went 2 for 3 and  was hit by a pitch. Brendan Cotter also went 2 for 3 with a walk. Austyn Ramos, Mo Zahr and Brandan Katona all singled to help the cause.

In the second game Malek Rammouni held the Jersey Shore boys to only 2 earned runs and helped him self out by jacking a home run over the Green Monster. Joey Caruso and Alex Barkoff also had Green Monster jacks and came around to touch them all. All but one Crush player reached base in this effort and all but of those came around to touch home plate.

Great start for the Crush!

ONEONTA, NY - The Dearborn Crush marched proudly behind their banner to the Opening Ceremonies Cooperstown All Star Village along with 22 other teams from all over the US. The boys did well in the skills competition with the Crush placing in the top five in relay and infield events. The highlight of the evening was Joey Caruso's first place finish in the Speed competition. Congrats to all the boys!!!

Don't worry. They're safe and sound.

We've received emails, letters, postcards, phone calls and smoke signals regarding all the "missing" old news articles. Here's a sample of one such email: "Dear Crush Website, I'm really upset that you deleted all the news articles and game summaries from earlier this season. I wanted to show my Aunt Tilly with the mustache the articles about the Canton Tournament and other games. She doesn't have an internet connection because she thinks it's 'Big Brother mind control' and a bad influence on her cats. I was going to print them out for her but now they are gone! Please cancel my subscription to the Crush website and return my money."

Well, first of all there is no subscription required for this quality content and there is no charge. Secondly, you can find all the old game summaries and articles under the Team menu at the top. Just click on the News link. Or you can click here.
The site will function better and read better with with some of the content from the home page archived. Thanks for your understanding.