The Crusaders began their third game in the series against the Shaw Eagles on a hot sunny day at Kirsch Rooney following a surprise 50th birthday party for Jodi Russo.  Jodi threw out the first pitch of the game.  Looked good from our vantage point!!

In the top of the first, the Saders retired the Eagles giving up 0 runs on 1 hit and 2 strike outs.  In the bottom of the first, the Crusaders got out to and early start.  Richard Duncan started the hitting parade with a single followed by a run scoring triple by BJ Rodrigue to right field.  Matt Adams followed with another run scoring single.  Matt Thorne was then given a base on balls.  Chris McIntyre followed with a single.  When the inning was over, the Crusaders had 3 runs on 4 hits, 0 Eagle errors, and 3 men left on base.

In the top of the second, the Eagles began with a base hit, but then saw a nice double play from Stephen Landry to John Wilson to Chris McIntyre.  The next batter flied out.  In the bottom of the second, the Crusaders began again with a hit from Richard Duncan.  Matt Thorne singled.  The Crusaders ended with 1 run on 2 hits.  In the top of the third, the Eagles bats came around and they scored 4 runs.  In the bottom of the inning, the Crusaders had singles from Brad Treuting, John Wilson, and BJ Rodrigue.  Two runs were score to make the score 6 - 4 in favor of the Crusaders.

In the top of the fourth the Eagles picked up 2 runs on a single and a homerun tying the score at 6 a piece.  In the bottom of the fourth, the Crusaders had a single from Andrew Russo, but they were unable to score any runs.  There was no score for either team in the fifth.

In the sixth, the Crusaders held the Eagles to one hit and 0 runs.  In the bottom of the inning, Matt Adams reached first on a single to begin the inning, but the Crusaders were unable to score any runs.

In the top of the seventh, the first Eagle batter reached first on a hit.  The next batter also got a hit.  The third batter was out at first.  The fourth hitter reached first safely and a run scored, but as another Eagle runner tried to reach home, Chris McIntyre threw the ball to Matt Adams who made a base-blocking tag at the plate for the second out and then threw the ball to second to get the next Eagle runner trying to advance.  The rundown between second and third began and ended with the runner being chased back to second and tagged by BJ Rodrigue.  The Eagles had scored one run making the score 7 - 6.  In the bottom of the inning, the Crusaders were unable to get any hits together and lost this one in close one.