High school baseball: Max Lewis' double lifts Medina over Brunswick

BRUNSWICK — Down to its final strike Tuesday, the Medina baseball team was in serious danger of losing ground to rival Strongsville in the Greater Cleveland Conference race until Max Lewis woke up the sleeping bats.Lewis fell behind Brunswick starter Joey Crawford 0-2 with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning when he laced a three-run double to center field and lifted Medina to a 3-2 win.The Bees (18-3, 8-1) remained a half-game up on the Mustangs (15-4, 7-1) in the GCC race. Strongsville closes its slate against Mentor today and Lorain on Thursday, while Medina finishes with Cleveland Heights on Thursday."It was awesome," Lewis said. "Big situation, I was just trying to keep my breath, keep my composure and find my pitch. I found it and put a good swing on it."It was huge. GCC on the line. River (Blomquist) absolutely shoved on the mound, and our defense did a really good job backing him up all day."Blomquist closed the win in the home half of the seventh, retiring Brunswick in order, including two strikeouts. The left-hander allowed one earned run on four hits and a walk while striking out four to improve to 4-0 on the season.Blomquist's performance was nearly wasted, but the Bees showed fight in their final at-bats. Joey Johnson led with a double, but after Luke Pagura walked, Johnson was retired going to third on a bunt by Blomquist. One batter later, Ethan Torek drew a walk to load the bases for Lewis."It was great," Blomquist said of the offensive surge. "Max with the huge hit, Joe getting on, it was a great team win."The win was Medina's ninth in a row and the second via comeback in as many days after beating Brunswick 2-1 Monday.The hit by Lewis spoiled a great outing by Crawford, who only allowed one hit — a double by Billy Jackson in the fifth — and faced only two above the minimum through six innings.Crawford exited after Lewis' hit, allowing three runs on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts. Two of his hits and walks allowed came in the seventh."A lot of props to our starting pitcher, Joey Crawford," Brunswick designated hitter Josiah Martinez said. "He threw great. One pitch in the last inning, unfortunately (Lewis) put a good swing on it and got a good barrel."Medina's a great team. We played great, good pitching, good defense. It just came down to that pitch."Martinez led off the first inning with a double to center, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a groundout by Jakob Miller. That looked like all the Blue Devils (8-12, 4-5) would need for much of the evening.Blomquist settled down after Martinez's hit to retire the next 10 batters until a single by Riley Turnick with one out in the fourth."I just had to keep getting ahead," Blomquist said. "I was just trying to match what (Crawford) was doing to keep the game going good. I was locating my fastball well, and the curveball was moving nice."Brunswick added insurance in the sixth after Gavin Moore led off with a walk and Miller singled him home. Miller advanced to third on a two-base throwing error on the play but was stranded there when Blomquist retired the next two hitters.The inning prior, Blomquist forced Ian Kuhn into a double play on a nice twist by Johnson at shortstop and Torek at second.The Blue Devils also made a double play when Turnick caught a foul fly from Brian Wuchter after Lewis took off on a hit and run to get doubled off.Contact John Urchek at jurchek@medina-gazette.com.Medina 3, Brunswick 2MEDINA 000 000 3 — 3 3 1BRUNSWICK 100 001 0 — 2 4 0WP — River Blomquist (4-0) 7 innings, earned run, walk, 4 strikeouts. LP — Joey Crawford (1-2) 6 2/3 innings, 3 runs, 3 hits, 4 walks, 3 strikeouts. Medina (18-3, 8-1) — Joey Johnson double; Billy Jackson double; Max Lewis double, 3 RBIs. Brunswick (8-12, 4-5) — Josiah Martinez double; Jake Miller single, 2 RBIs.