MWL Great Lakes Loons

Captains Pull off Extra-Innings Victory to Overcome Loons' 5-Run Lead

Published on August 5, 2022 under Midwest League (MWL)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


The Great Lakes Loons were riding high in the fourth inning Friday night at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio. They were coming off of two straight wins, including a walk-off win Thursday, and had a 5-0 lead going into the home half of the fourth.

That feeling would come to an end rather quickly.

The Lake County Captains scored six unanswered runs in the next seven innings, defeating the Loons 6-5 in ten innings.

For the third straight game, the Loons (6X-XX, 2X-1X second half) went deep in the first inning. With two outs and the bases empty, Eddys Leonard torched one over the left-center field wall, giving the visitors an immediate 1-0 lead. It was Leonard's 11th homer of the year, six of which have come in the 10 games he has played at Classic Park.

Great Lakes, the Los Angeles Dodgers' High-A partner, doubled its advantage in the second frame on no hits. With the bases loaded on walks, Harold Restituyo drove in a run on a fielders' choice to push the Loons' advantage to 2-0.

In the fourth inning, the Loons put two men aboard with a pair of walks before Austin Gauthier doubled for his first hit and RBI at the High-A level. One more run scored on a passed ball before Restituyo doubled, putting Great Lakes ahead 5-0.

Lake County (53-45, 18-14) scored for the first time in the bottom of the fourth. An RBI single from Milan Tolentino scored one, then Korey Holland doubled with the bases loaded and plated two, bringing the Captains within two, 5-3. Antonio Knowles came into that frame with the bases loaded and nobody out, allowing just one inherited runner to score while picking up a strikeout.

The Captains, High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, kept the Loons off the board in the final six innings of play. Alaska Abney tossed 1 1-3 frames, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out three. The final three innings of regulations were perfect, thanks to Mason Hickman, who picked up six punchouts along the way.

Meanwhile, Lake County did enough to claw back into the game. In the seventh inning, Alexfri Planez hit a solo homer, his 15th of the season, to bring the Captains within a run, trailing 5-4. That was the lone blemish in River Ryan's High-A debut. In his four solid frames, Ryan allowed one run, one hit and one walk while fanning eight Captains.

Jeff Belge (BS, 1) was called upon for the ninth inning, previously a perfect 5-for-5 in save opportunities, but Mike Amditis led off the frame with a solo shot, his first home run of the season, to tie the game at five.

In the tenth inning, Jordan Jones (W, 3-2) walked the first batter he faced, which put two men aboard (in combination with the placed runner) with nobody out. He mowed through the next three batters, including two strikeouts, to give the chance back to his offense.

Joe Naranjo began the inning on second, and Cole Duensing (L, 6-5) intentionally walked Planez. After an out, Petey Halpin singled to load the bases. Gabriel Rodriguez hit a fly ball to center field, and the throw home was off-target, allowing Naranjo to score on the walk-off sacrifice fly for the 6-5 win.

The Captains have evened up the six-game set at two games apiece, but still trail the Loons in the season series, nine games to seven. The two teams do battle again at 7:00 p.m. Saturday at Classic Park, with pregame coverage on ESPN 100.9-FM beginning at 6:45 p.m. with the Loons On-Deck Circle, driven by Garber Chevrolet Midland. Ben Casparius (1-1, 6.81 ERA) starts on the hill for Great Lakes, opposing fellow righty Jack Leftwich (2-0, 3.10 ERA) for the Captains.

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