Sports stats



MWL1 Lake County Captains

Captains Drop Rubber Game in Lansing

June 27, 2018 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Lansing, MI) - The Lake County Captains (2-5, 31-46) suffered a 6-2 loss to the Lansing Lugnuts (6-1, 49-28) on Wednesday in the rubber game of a three-game series at Cooley Law School Stadium. Josh Rolette hit his first career home run, but Lansing took the series finale behind six strong innings by starter Donnie Sellers.

Sellers (5-1) struck out eight Captains and walked just two in Wednesday's matinee. The right-hander held Lake County to just one run on three hits and earned the victory.

The Lansing offense plated the game's first run in the second inning. Samad Taylor dropped down a bunt single and moved to third on a Ryan Gold single. Jesus Navarro, who joined the Lugnuts from short-season Vancouver yesterday, hit a sacrifice fly in his first Lansing plate appearance. The fly ball to centerfield plated Taylor to give the Lugnuts a 1-0 lead. Captains starter Kirk McCarty kept the damage that inning to a minimum. The Lugnuts loaded the bases with two outs, but McCarty escaped with a fly ball to center by Ryan Noda.

Lansing added another run in the third when Brandon Grudzielanek swatted an opposite-field leadoff homer to right field, but the big blow came in the fourth. Kevin Vicuna reached with one out on an error by shortstop Miguel Eladio. Grudzielanek then singled with two outs and Brock Lundquist belted a three-run home run to right field to extend the Lugnuts' lead to 5-0.

Lake County tallied its only run against Sellers in the top of the fifth. With one out and nobody on base, Rolette clobbered a pitch just to the right of dead centerfield. Rolette's blast cleared the 23-foot high wall, sailing over the 407-foot sign for his first career home run. The Lugnuts' lead was trimmed to 5-1.

Lake County made a few late bids to come back. Sellers escaped a mini jam with a double play ball in the sixth, ending an inning in which the Captains had men on first and second with one out. The following inning, The Captains had runners on first and second with nobody out, but reliever Andrew Deramo got another double play and a strikeout to keep the Captains from scoring.

The Captains pulled closer in the eighth. Todd Isaacs led off with a single, but was erased on a force play at second on a fielder's choice by Nolan Jones. Deramo then hit Oscar Gonzalez with a pitch and Jose Vicente yanked a line drive into left. Jones scored to cut the Lansing lead to 5-2 and Gonzalez moved to third. The Lugnuts called on right-hander Dany Jimenez to face Will Benson, who represented the tying run. Jimenez struck out Benson looking to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Lugnuts hustled their way to an insurance run. Noda hit a one-out single and moved to second on a walk by Grudzielanek. With Lundquist at the plate, Captains hurler Riley Echols threw a wild pitch that hopped high over Rolette. The catcher had trouble locating the ball and Noda raced home from second to score and give Lansing a 6-2 lead.

Lake County rallied again in the ninth. Erlin Cerda led off with a bunt single and Rolette followed with a single to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Jimenez then struck out Ulysses Cantu and got Eladio to bounce into a game-ending, 6-4-3 double play. Jimenez picked up the save after blanking the Captains over 1.1 innings. He allowed two hits, struck out two and did not issue a walk.

McCarty (1-7) took the loss. The lefty pitched 3.2 innings and allowed five runs - two earned - on 10 hits. He struck out five and walked one.

The Captains lost two out of three in Lansing and went 2-5 on their seven-game road trip. Lake County returns home for a six-game homestand, starting with a four-game series against the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Game one of the series is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday night at Classic Park. The Captains will play 10 of their next 12 games at home.

Information about Classic Park or the Captains can be found online at www.captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Affordable ticket packages and group party and picnic options are available now.

Check out the Lake County Captains Statistics



Midwest League Stories from June 27, 2018


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Lake County Captains Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central