May 2025 In Review by Heskin

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May 2025 In Review by Heskin

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CRYSTAL LAKE HERALD

SPORTS – GNATS NOW
May 2025 In Review by Heskin
Updated: June 1, 2025 – 09:30AM CDT

By Howard Heskin, Staff Writer – Twitter @HowardHeskin1

Crystal Lake continued to stay slightly above water during the month of May with injuries taking their toll, but was able to still post a winning record of 14-13 for the month. The last week of the month ended with a 3 game sweep of the Desert Hills division leader Bakersfield Bears. In that same time period the offense, led by the outfield exploded with:

CF Jerry Long: 22AB, 10H, 3HR, 10RBIs, .455AVG, 1.481 OPS
LF Raúl Uribe: 28AB, 9H, 4HR, 10RBIs, .311AVG, 1.107 OPS
RF Colin Crow: 30AB, 11H, 6RBI, .367AVG, 1.027 OPS

Crow's showing was impressive given his first week back from an injury on opening day. His return helped lift the entire lineup. Also, notable was the call up of top 3B prospect Ed Brown. His first week with 27 at bats was a respectable .296 AVG, .667 OPS including 2 doubles, 2 RBIs and 1 stolen base. The move of Ed Brown up to third precipitated the move of Hirohisa Inoue to Shortstop. Rookie Shortstop Miguel Rinlón was moved to the utility position and now will come off the bench for defensive situations.

Notable injuries and timetables are as follows:

RF Jarrod 'Merlin' Ricks will be out another 1-2 weeks with a sprained wrist.
CF Jeffrey Wolfe will remain out 4 more weeks with a sprained ankle.
2B Jim 'Bizarre' Klein will be out 3 more weeks after sustaining a set-back from a separated shoulder.

Pitching through the first 2 months of the season has been most disappointing given off-season acquisitions and retention of players with strong seasons last season. The Sandgnats rank number 6 in the SL with a starter ERA of 3.82 and number 9 with a releaver ERA of 3.82. Most disappointing has been 56 home runs allowed, but strikeouts of 387 leads the SL for the Sandgnats. Tatsui Kouno and Jim 'Nitro' MacCowan have allowed a reckless combined 27 home runs.

Leading the pitching staff has been starter Tony Cuellar with an ERA of 2.62 and WHIP of 1.12. Most disappointing has been Miguel Cantú with an ERA of 4.53 and WHIP of 1.51.

The tag team of Closer Ramón 'Doberman' Contreras and Setup man Dave Jones have disappointed of late with Contreras posting an ERA of 4.50, WHIP of 1.45 and but only 2 blown saves. He has been on a roll of late with 5 saves in a row with 11 overall for the season in 13 tries. Dave Jones has posted a disappointing ERA of 5.40 and WHIP of 1.31 in 18.1 innings of relief.

The Sandgnats will start competition in June with 4 games at home against Fargo, 2 at Neo-Tokyo, 3 against Yuma at home, 3 against Toyoma at home, 3 against Shin Seiki at home and 4 at Duluth before the All-Star break.

Go Gnats!
RJ Ermola
Vice President and General Manager of Baseball Operations
Crystal Lake Sandgnats

*2024 PEBA Champions*
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