It appeared that the early afternoon game against Shaw was not going to be kind to the Crusaders, but a true team effort with 18 of the 23 Crusaders on the roster seeing action, brought the Crusaders their first district win.  It was a win that saw the Saders overcome a 5 run deficit.

In the top of the first, Brad Treuting took the mound with Matt Adams back behind the plate.  The Crusaders gave up 1 run on 2 hits and 1 error, with Brad getting 2 strikeouts.  In the bottom of the inning, Evan Alvarez walked and Matt Adams got a base hit, but no runs were scored.  In the top of the second, the Eagles scored 2 runs on 2 hits with another Crusader error.  The bottom of the inning saw the Crusaders retired three up and three down.

In the third, the Eagles scored 2 runs on 2 hits and one Crusader error.  In the bottom of the third, the Crusaders woke up and finally began to hit the ball as they had in the early preseason.  John Wilson began the inning with a walk.  Andrew Velez followed with a single.  BJ Rodrigue followed with a double that scored John.  Matt Adams was then hit by a pitch.  Matt Thorne was walked which scored Andrew.  Brad Treuting came up to bat and hit a single that scored both BJ and Austin Condon who was running for Matt Adams.  When the inning ended the Crusaders had scored 4 runs on 3 hits and 0 Eagle errors with 2 left stranded.  The score was 5 - 4 in favor of Shaw.

In the top of the fourth, Brad Treuting threw seven pitches to retire the Eagles 3 up and 3 down.  In the bottom of the fourth, the Eagles retired the Crusaders in the same fashion.  In the fifth, Stephen Landry made a nice stop at shortstop to prevent an Eagle run.  This was followed by a nice double play from Stephen to John Wilson to Matt Thorne.  The Crusaders gave up 0 runs on 2 hits and 0 errors.  In the bottom of the inning, BJ Rodrigue led off with a single.  Matt Adams reached on an errant throw.  Chris McIntyre sent one sailing to right which scored BJ.  The inning ended with the Crusaders tying the score at 5, earning one run on 2 hits and 1 Eagle error.

In the sixth, the Eagles got 0 runs on 0 hits and 0 errors.  In the bottom of the sixth, Stephen Landry singled, but was left on base.  The Crusaders ended the inning with 0 runs on 1 hit and 0 errors.   In the top of the seventh, the Eagles scored one run on 2 hits.  Chris Cappo entered the game to close, and retired the next two batters.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Crusaders showed the Eagles that they were there to battle.  BJ Rodrigue led off with his third hit of the day.  Matt Adams walked and Austin Condon courtesy ran.  Tony Colletti came in to pinch hit for Matt Thorne and laid down a nice sacrifice bunt which advanced the runners to second and third.  The Eagles then intentionally walked Chris McIntyre.  Ryan Hebert entered the game to pinch run for Chris.  Brad Treuting had a nice hit to score BJ for the tying run.  Austin Condon attempted to score the winning run, but was called out at the plate on a close call.  This brought Andrew Russo up to the plate with Ryan Hebert at third and Brad Treuting at second with two outs.  Andrew ripped a shot through the infield to score Ryan from third putting the Crusaders up 7 - 6.

What a great game and team effort. Congratulations on a well deserved win.