MWL Lake County Captains

Captains Hold on Late to Beat Great Lakes

May 23, 2021 - Midwest League (MWL)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Midland, MI) - The Lake County Captains (11-7) held off a late charge from the Great Lakes Loons (8-10) to snap a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win at Dow Diamond on Sunday.

Will Brennan led off the ballgame for the Captains with a single to right field to extend his hitting streak to six games. Brayan Rocchio followed with a walk and Joe Naranjo loaded the bases with the second walk of the inning. Following a Loons pitching change that brought Alec Gamboa out of the bullpen José Tena lifted a fly ball to center field that was deep enough to score Brennan and give the Captains a 1-0 lead.

Tena added another Captains run in the fourth. He led off the inning by crushing the first pitch over the right-centerfield wall to make the score 2-0, Lake County.

Naranjo tacked on two more runs with a double in the fifth. Victor Nova began the inning with a single and Aaron Bracho walked with two outs. Naranjo then ripped a line drive into the right field corner. Nova scored easily and Bracho hustled around third. The throw to the plate beat Bracho, but catcher Ryan January never had the ball. Naranjo's two-run double gave the Captains a 4-0 lead.

The Loons rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning against reliever Kevin Kelly. After Kelly held Great Lakes scoreless over his first two innings on the mound, Justin Yurchak rolled an infield single in front of second base and Miguel Vargas dribbled an infield single down the third base line. Ryan Ward then pounded a line drive off the left-centerfield wall to score both runners and cut the Captains' lead to 4-2. Kelly rebounded with two quick outs to end the inning. He got Andy Pages to ground out to shortstop and then struck out James Outman to end the inning.

Great Lakes threatened again in the bottom of the ninth, this time against right-hander Jared Janczak. Joe Vranesh reached to begin the inning on a throwing error by Rocchio at shortstop. Leonel Valera followed with a double down the left field line to put the tying run on second base with nobody out. Janczak then struck out Deacon Liput for the first out. Justin Yurchak followed with a ground out to second base for out number two, but Vranesh scored to pull the Loons within one run and Valera moved to third. With the tying run 90 feet away and two outs, Janczak got January to bounce out to Tena at second base for the final out of the ballgame.

Mason Hickman (1-0) worked five scoreless innings for the second consecutive start and earned his first professional win. He surrendered two hits, two walks and struck out seven.

Janczak (1) earned the save. The right-hander pitched the ninth and allowed one unearned run on one hit. He struck out one and did not issue a walk.

Loons starter Clayton Beeter (0-1) took the loss. The right-hander recorded just one out before exiting in the first inning. Beeter walked two and allowed one run on one hit with no strikeouts. He left the game after just four batters.

The Captains split their six-game series with Great Lakes and will begin a new six-game series on Tuesday against the West Michigan Whitecaps. First pitch at LMCU Ballpark is set for 6:35 p.m.

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Midwest League Stories from May 23, 2021


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