MWL Lake County Captains

Captains Suffer Doubleheader Sweep Despite Lavastida's Breakout

Published on June 27, 2021 under Midwest League (MWL)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Midland, MI) - Bryan Lavastida enjoyed a monster doubleheader with a 5-for-8 performance that included a homer and three RBI, but the Lake County Captains (25-23) lost both games of Sunday's doubleheader against the Great Lakes Loons (25-23) at Dow Diamond. The Loons won the first game, 14-6, before taking game two on a walk-off double by James Outman in the eighth inning, 9-8.

Game One

The Loons jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. Justin Yurchak led off the frame with a home run to right field. After Captains starter Mason Hickman followed the long ball with a walk to Joe Vranesh, Zac Ching hit a grounder to third. Raynel Delgado fired to second to force out Vranesh, but Lake County could not turn two. Deacon Liput followed with a single to put men on the corners and Juan Zabala roped a single into left field to plate Ching.

The Captains got one run back in the top of the third. Bryan Lavastida led off with a single up the middle and Aaron Bracho hit a one-out single to put men on first and second. A balk moved both runners into scoring position and Delgado lifted a fly ball to right field that scored Lavastida. Loons right fielder Andy Pages, however, cut down Bracho trying to advance to third base. The double play ended the inning, but Lavastida's run scored and the Captains trailed, 2-1.

Great Lakes answered with three more runs in the bottom of the third. Outman singled with one out and Yurchak walked before Vranesh launched a three-run homer to left-center field to put the Loons up, 5-1.

Another long ball gave the Loons two more runs in the fourth. Leonel Valera walked with one out and promptly swiped second base. Ryan Ward then homered to right field to extend Great Lakes' advantage to 7-1.

The Captains responded with three runs in the top of the fifth, including a one-out, solo homer by Lavastida. The Loons called on Mike Mokma to relieve Cameron Gibbens following the homer, but George Valera and Bracho greeted the right-hander with back-to-back singles. With two outs, Joe Naranjo slammed a two-run double to left field to cut the Loons' lead to 7-4.

The Loons piled on four insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth. After Hickman walked Yurchak to begin the inning, reliever Nick Gallagher came in from the Captains' bullpen. Yurchak stole second and advanced to third on a single by Vranesh. Vranesh then stole second base to put two in scoring position. A passed ball by catcher Mike Amditis brought home Yurchak and moved Vranesh up to third, then Liput knocked in Vranesh with a single. After Liput swiped second, Zabala lifted a two-run homer over the left field wall to push the Loons' lead to 11-4.

Lavastida delivered again to give the Captains a run in the sixth. Austen Wade doubled to begin the frame and moved to third on a wild pitch. After reliever Braidyn Fink hit Brayan Rocchio with a pitch to put runners on the corners, Lavastida brought home Wade with a sacrifice fly to right field to make the score 11-5, Loons.

Great Lakes tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Lefty Kellen Rholl walked Pages and Outman, back-to-back, to start the inning. Yurchak singled to center to load the bases and Rholl walked Vranesh to force home Pages. Jared Janczak came in to relieve Rholl and the right-hander surrendered two more runs on a single by Liput that scored Outman and a sacrifice fly by Zabala that plated Yurchak. The Loons extended their game one lead to 14-4. The Captains capped the scoring in the top of the seventh with a two-out, solo homer by Naranjo to right.

Gibbens (1-0) picked up the win for the Loons. The right-hander pitched 1.1 innings and allowed one run on one hit - Lavastida's fifth-inning homer. He struck out two and walked one.

Hickman took the loss after allowing eight runs over four innings. The right-hander walked five, struck out one and surrendered seven hits, including three home runs.

Game Two

A barrage of singles put the Captains on the board first in the third inning. Austen Wade, Will Brennan and Rocchio began the inning with three straight singles to load the bases. Lavastida then bounced to third and Liput threw home to force out Wade. Bracho popped to first for the second out, but José Tena delivered with the fourth single of the inning. Brennan and Rocchio scored to give the Captains a 2-0 lead.

The Loons answered quickly in the bottom of the third. Ryan January led off with a walk and was forced out at second base on an Andrew Shaps grounder to second. The Captains could not roll the double play, so Shaps stole second and moved to third on an infield single by Kenneth Betancourt. Pages then walked to load the bases and Captains starter

Kevin Coulter issued his third walk of the inning, throwing four straight balls to Ryan Ward, to bring home Shaps from third. Nathan Ocker relieved Coulter, but the first man he faced, Leonel Valera, belted a grand slam to left-center to give the Loons a 5-2 lead.

Lake County rallied to tie the score at 5-5 in the top of the fourth. Victor Nova reached with one out on an error by Yurchak at first. Nova then stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. Brennan worked a two-out walk and Rocchio grounded a single to right that brought home Nova. Lavastida followed with a single to center that plated Brennan and pulled the Captains within one run. Bracho came up next and singled to right. Rocchio scored to tie the game at 5-5, but Outman threw out Lavastida at third to end the inning.

A Tena leadoff double sparked another Captains rally in the fifth and helped Lake County take the lead. A fly out and a strikeout followed Tena's double, but Nova walked with two outs to put runners on first and second. Wade came up next and grounded to shortstop, but Valera misplayed the ball and Tena scored from second on the error to put the Captains ahead, 6-5. Brennan then singled to right and Nova scored to give the Captains a 7-5 lead.

Great Lakes punched back in the bottom of the fifth. With one out and nobody on, Pages drilled a solo homer over the left field wall. Pages' league-leading 15th long ball cut the Captains' lead to 7-6.

Lake County added a vital insurance run in the top of the sixth. Lavastida singled to begin the inning for his fifth knock of the day. After back-to-back strikeouts, Delgado came through with a double to center field. Lavastida scored to extend the Captains' lead to 8-6.

The Loons came back to tie the score on one big swing in the bottom of the sixth. Kevin Kelly came in to relieve Ocker and struck out both Outman and Yurchak to start the frame. Liput, however, singled up the middle and January hit a game-tying, two-run homer to left-center field. The bomb evened the score at 8-8.

Outman delivered the Loons a walk-off win in extra-innings to clinch the doubleheader sweep. Ward began the inning as the free runner on second base. After Valera popped out to second, Outman roped a double to right that brought home Ward with the game-winning run. The Loons took a back-and-forth game two, 9-8.

Loons reliever Kevin Malisheski (2-0) picked up the win. The right-hander pitched the top of the eighth and held the Captains scoreless in his lone inning on the hill. Malisheski struck out two in a one-two-three frame.

Kelly (1-2) took the loss for the Captains. The right-hander surrendered three runs, two earned, over 2.1 innings of relief work. He struck out four, walked none and allowed three hits.

The Captains return home on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the South Bend Cubs at Classic Park. First pitch for the series opener is set for 7 p.m.

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Midwest League Stories from June 27, 2021


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