Tucker Nathans hit a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, in New York’s nine-run sixth inning to pace the visiting Boulders to a 17-2 win over the Lake Erie Crushers on Thursday at Mercy Health Stadium in Avon, OH.

With the Boulders leading 4-1 entering the top of the sixth, David Vinsky singled to lead off the inning before Nathans launched his fifth home run of the season over the wall in left-center.

Chris Kwitzer and Al Reda would add RBI singles in the sixth before Kwitzer scored on a wild pitch. Later that inning, with the bases jammed, Nathans connected again – this time to left field, for his grand slam and sixth long ball of the year to give the Boulders a 13-1 advantage.

Nathans also homered in the ninth inning the previous night, giving him three home runs in two games.

The win gave the Boulders the series win at two games to one.

Nathans’ home runs were two of five hit by New York in the victory. In the second inning, with Gabriel Garcia on via a single and Giovanni Garbella by a walk, Gerson Molina hit his second home run of the season to left-center, the blast staking the Boulders to a 3-0 lead.

One inning later, Vinsky hit his second of the year, a solo shot to leftfield that extended the New York advantage to 4-0.

In the ninth inning, Kwitzer blasted his second of the season, a three-run shot that increased the Boulders’ lead to 16-2. Later that inning, Molina singled in his fourth run of the day to make it a 17-2 game.

Vinsky, Nathans, Garcia, Kwitzer and Molina each had two hits as New York pounded out 14 in the game, with Nathans ending the day with six RBI and Molina and Kwitzer four RBI apiece.

Almost lost in the offensive fireworks was a solid start on the hill by New York’s Alex Mack, who lasted six innings and allowed only three hits and one run. He walked just one and struck out three as he won for the first time this year against no losses.

Kaleb Schmidt was tagged with the loss for Lake Erie, falling to 0-2 on the season. He went five innings and surrendered eight runs – six earned – on seven hits, while walking one and striking out four.

Jackson Valera had an RBI groundout in the third inning for the Crushers, while Jarrod Watkins added a run-scoring single in the eighth.

Debuting in 1993, the Frontier League is the largest and longest-running of the modern independent leagues and features teams stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from the Ohio River to the St. Lawrence Seaway. In September of 2020, the Frontier League reached an agreement to become a “Partner League” with Major League Baseball.

As a “Partner League,” the Frontier League and its teams will meet on a regular basis with MLB representatives to discuss joint marketing and promotional opportunities, as well as collaborate on initiatives to provide organized baseball to communities throughout the United States and Canada.

More information can be found at www.frontierleague.com.