MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

Whitecaps And Grand Valley Battle To 1-1 Tie

Published on April 6, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


COMSTOCK PARK, MI - Professional baseball is officially back in West Michigan.

The West Michigan Whitecaps opened Fifth Third Ballpark for the 2011 season with a 1-1 tie against the Grand Valley State University Lakers during their annual exhibition game Wednesday night.

The contest was scoreless until Grand Valley drew first blood in the top of the fourth. A one-out walk got the rally started before the Lakers checked in with consecutive two-out singles, including a run-scoring knock from Brian Robinson to drive home Giancarlo Brugnoni for a 1-0 lead.

West Michigan battled back in the bottom of the fifth. Nick Castellanos, the Tigers' top pick at 44th overall in the 2010 draft, got the rally started with a one-out walk. He went first-to-third on a single to right by James Robbins, setting the stage for P.J. Polk to tie the score at 1-1 with a sacrifice fly.

The Whitecaps made it interesting in the final scheduled frame when Jeff Rowland delivered a pinch-hit double with one out in the bottom of the sixth. The ‘Caps were unable to push the potential winning run across, leading to the stalemate.

Josue Carreno started for the Whitecaps and tossed three scoreless innings before yielding the first run of the game in the fourth. He allowed one run on five hits over 3.2 innings, striking out three and walking a pair. Ramon Lebron added one-third of an inning while Antonio Cruz chipped in with three strikeouts over two hitless frames.

The Midwest League regular season starts Thursday with a three-game road series in Lansing before the ‘Caps open the home portion of their schedule against the Lugnuts with a 1:00 p.m. start on Sunday, April 10, at Fifth Third Ballpark. The home-opener will feature a Knit Hat giveaway for the first 1,000 fans courtesy of Fifth Third Bank, as well as Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Family Day festivities including Bob Evans kids-run-the-bases post-game. Group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting whitecapsbaseball.com.

Check out the West Michigan Whitecaps Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from April 6, 2011


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