AKRON, Ohio — Two former baseball players for the Frontier League, which includes the Lake Erie Crushers, are suing the league for what they say is low pay that violates federal wage-and-hour laws.

The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Akron, says that the independent league, which has teams throughout the Midwest, exploited players by not paying minimum wage and overtime pay. Sometimes the players were not paid for their work at all, the suit says.

It says the league is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act, which establishes regulations for employers to pay minimum wage and overtime.

(You can read the full lawsuit here or at the bottom of this story.)

The Frontier League is an independent league which includes teams made up of young players who often have no hope in playing for a Major League Baseball team. First-year players make $650 a month during the five-month season. Salaries can increase, but the pay is still low, the lawsuit says.

Teams play games at least six days a week during the five-month season, including road games. Players work at least eight hours on game days since they have to arrive before the games for practice. Players must also travel with the team on a bus for away games.

The wages for players are so low that many are forced to get jobs during the off-season, even though they have to keep up their work to stay in shape, said Jonathan Durket, a Fairborn-based attorney and former baseball player.

“The sad reality here is a lot of these players’ careers didn’t end by their choice,” said Durket, who played for the Avon-based Crushers in 2010. “These are grown men getting a such a low wage that they couldn’t support themselves or their family.”

The listed plaintiffs are Casey Henn, who pitched for the Florence, Kentucky Freedom between 2013 and 2015, and Alex Kaminsky, a pitcher who played for several Frontier League teams, including the Crushers, between 2013 and 2014. Both men live in Ohio.

Henn made $1,150 a month in 2015, his third year in the league, and Kaminsky earned less than $1,000 a month during his second year, the lawsuit says.

The attorney is seeking class-action status. That means if the lawsuit proves successful, other Frontier League players may file claims and attempt to recoup damages.

The lawsuit estimates that several hundred current and former Frontier League employees could qualify to become part of the class.

The Crushers are named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The plaintiffs are seeking and unnamed amount in money for lost wages and damages, as well as to order the league to comply with federal law.

Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee said he had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Durket, who was admitted to practice law in Ohio in 2015, said it was a struggle to make ends meet when playing in the Frontier League. He said some players stay with host families to save money on housing while on the road.

University of Georgia associate professor Nathaniel Grow, who studies sports law, said the lawsuit is just one of several similar suits filed in recent years related to player wages. He pointed to a 2014 lawsuit filed against the MLB by a group of minor-league players in California.

That ongoing lawsuit has been given the OK by a federal judge to proceed with a larger class of players, according to The Wall Street Journal.

“It seems like this lawsuit is riding on the coattails of this one out in California,” Grow said of the Frontier League case.

The Frontier League case may prove different because the FLSA has exemptions for seasonal recreational employees. Grow said that if an employee works for an organization for seven months or less a year, minimum wage and overtime laws do not apply.

Durket said he did not want to go into specifics on how the league is not exempt from laws governing seasonal employees, but he said he is confident that he will be able to prove his case.

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