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 Lake County Captains

Captains Sweep Doubleheader, Series against Peoria

May 1, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains swept a doubleheader against the Peoria Chiefs on Sunday afternoon at Classic Park and took all three games in the series to finish their home stand. After a rain out on Saturday, Lake County won game one, 6-2, and shut the Chiefs out in game two, 4-0.

Game One

Willi Castro put the Captains on top early in the opener of the twin bill. In the first inning, Castro connected on a pitch from Peoria starter Junior Fernandez and drove it over the right field wall for a solo home run to give Lake County a 1-0 lead.

The Captains added a run in the third inning thanks to a defensive miscue by the Chiefs. After Ka'ai Tom worked a two-out walk, Fernandez struck out Castro swinging, but Chiefs catcher Chris Chinea dropped the ball. Castro reached on the passed ball and the inning stayed alive. With Tom on second and Castro on first, Tyler Krieger grounded a single to left field to put the Captains up, 2-0.

Peoria rallied in the fifth inning and might have come back to tie the game or take the lead if not for a big defensive play by Sam Haggerty. Chris Chinea led off the inning with a single and later came in to score the Chiefs' first run on an RBI double by Leobaldo Pina. Captains starter Sam Hentges then walked the next batter and Lake County went to the bullpen.

Dominic DeMasi came in to relieve Hentges, but walked the first man he faced to load the bases. That brought up Edmundo Sosa with the tying run on third base and the go-ahead run on second. Sosa hit a hard ground ball to Haggerty's left and the second baseman dove on the outfield grass, gloved the ball and threw out Sosa to end the inning and keep Lake County on top.

The Chiefs threatened again in the sixth, but DeMasi got the Captains out of trouble. Magneuris Sierra led off with an infield single and R.J. Dennard followed with a single. DeMasi retired the next two men, but then walked Vaughn Bryan to load the bases for the second inning in a row. DeMasi escaped the jam, however, inducing Pina to hit a tapper back to the mound to end the frame.

Lake County pulled away with four runs in the sixth inning. Krieger began the inning with a triple and came in to score when Martin Cervenka hit a dribbler down the first base line. Connor Marabell followed Cervenka's RBI groundout with a double and Anthony Miller reached on an error. Haggerty then dropped down a drag bunt to score Marabell and beat the throw to first for a single. Yonathan Mendoza and Bobby Ison then hit back-to-back RBI singles to give the Captains a 6-1 lead.

Peoria scored a run on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, but Yoiber Marquina struck out Dennard to end the ballgame. DeMasi (4-0) picked up the win in relief, pitching 1.1 scoreless innings. The right-hander gave up two hits, walked two and struck out one. Fernandez (2-2) took the loss. He pitched five frames and gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits. Fernandez struck out seven and walked two.

Game Two

Brock Hartson led the way on the mound in his first start of the season. The right-hander tossed five shutout innings, as the Captains held the Chiefs scoreless in a 4-0 shutout. Hartson (2-0) scattered just three hits, did not walk a batter and struck out three Chiefs over his five innings. The righty finished his outing on a roll by retiring the last 10 men he faced, in order.

Hartson got some defensive help from Tom in the second inning. With the game still scoreless, the Chiefs had runners on the corners with one out. Dylan Becker hit a fly ball to left field and Casey Turgeon tagged up from third base and tried to score. Tom caught the lazy fly ball and fired a bullet to the plate. Cervenka slapped the tag on Turgeon for the final out of the inning, keeping the game knotted at 0-0.

Lake County untied the game in the fourth thanks to aggressive baserunning by Krieger. The switch-hitter singled with one out and, with Cervenka at the plate, took off for second base. While Krieger was stealing second, the ball skipped past catcher Jose Godoy. Krieger saw the ball get away from the catcher and raced to third base safely. Cervenka then hit a sacrifice fly to score Krieger and give the Captains a 1-0 lead.

For the second game in a row, the Captains added insurance runs in the sixth. Castro led off with a single and Cervenka hit a one-out double to put two runners in scoring position. Marabell came up next for his first at-bat of the game since replacing Tom defensively the previous inning. Marabell roped a line drive to the right-center field gap for a two-run double to give the Captains a 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Mendoza put Lake County a 4-0 advantage with a sacrifice fly.

Hartson earned the win and Matt Whitehouse pitched a pair of perfect innings to earn his first save of the season. Peoria starter Brennan Leitao took the loss. Leitao (1-2) pitched 5.1 innings and gave up all four Captains runs. The righty allowed six hits, struck out two and did not walk a batter.

Krieger led Lake County's offense in the doubleheader. The Captains' second baseman went 4-for-6 at the plate, hit a triple, scored two runs, drove in a run and stole a base to help Lake County pick up a pair of wins.

The Captains swept the three-game series and have now won seven of their last eight games. Lake County will try to continue the hot streak on the road, as they begin a six-game road trip against the Kane County Cougars and the Clinton LumberKings. The Captains' three-game series at Kane County begins on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.

Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2016 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.


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