MWL1 Lake County Captains

Captains Victorious in Homecoming

Published on May 31, 2019 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains (33-21) returned home from a 12-game, 11-day road trip on Friday night and came away with a series-opening victory over the West Michigan Whitecaps (19-36) at Classic Park. Behind a four-RBI game by Bo Naylor, the Captains defeated the Whitecaps, 9-4.

In his return from the Injured List, Captains starter Juan Mota held the Whitecaps scoreless and allowed just one hit over the first three innings. West Michigan, however, scratched across a couple of runs in the fourth. Wenceel Perez led off with a single and Parker Meadows dropped down a bunt toward third. Jesse Berardi barehanded the ball, but sailed the throw over first baseman Mitch Reeves for an error that put men on second and third. Chris Proctor then pulled a single to right that brought home Perez and Meadows scored on a wild pitch to give the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead.

Lake County quickly rebounded. After lefty Kacey Murphy blanked the Captains in the first three frames, the Captains rallied for four runs to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Tyler Freeman reached on an error by Perez at shortstop to begin the inning and Ruben Cardenas followed with a single. Two batters later, Reeves slammed a double down the right field line that plated Freeman to cut West Michigan's lead to 2-1. Naylor came up next and chopped a grounder to the shortstop hole and Perez had no play after fielding the ball on the backhand. The infield single scored Cardenas with the tying run. Miguel Jerez then roped a double to left-center that scored both Reeves and Naylor to put the Captains in front, 4-2.

Two innings later, Naylor added to the Captains' lead with a long ball. Will Benson led off the inning with a single, stole second and advanced to third when Proctor's throw skipped into centerfield. With one out, Naylor pulled a drive over the right field wall. Naylor's second homer of the year and his first at Classic Park gave the Captains a 6-2 lead.

The Whitecaps got a run back in the seventh. Reynaldo Rivera began the inning with a high fly ball deep to left-centerfield. Captains centerfielder Quentin Holmes hustled to the track, jumped at the wall and pulled the ball back, but could not make the catch. The ball bounced back toward the outfield and Rivera raced to third with a triple. Two batters later, Jordan Pearce doubled home Rivera to cut the Captains' lead to 6-3.

Lake County added three runs in the eighth. Benson started the frame by pulling a double into the right field corner. Benson moved to third on a ground out and the Whitecaps pulled the infield in. Naylor then drove in his fourth run of the game, chopping a single over Rivera and into right to bring home Benson. Jerez came up next and reached when Meadows dropped his pop up in centerfield and Berardi laced a single down the left field line to score Naylor. Two batters later, Jose Fermin singled up the middle and Jerez scored to give Lake County a 9-3 lead.

Manuel Alvarez struggled with control in the ninth and allowed the Whitecaps to load the bases. Ulrich Bojarski walked, Rivera hit a towering fly ball to the wall in right-centerfield that Cardenas dropped and Daniel Reyes walked. Pearce knocked in Bojarski with an infield single, but that is when Alvarez settled down. He struck out the next two hitters and got Perez to fly out to center for the final out of the game.

Alvarez notched his sixth save and Aaron Pinto took home the win in relief. Pinto (5-1) pitched three innings and allowed one run on four hits. He struck out five and did not issue a walk.

Murphy (1-3) took the loss for West Michigan. The lefty starter pitched five innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits. Murphy struck out five and walked two.

The Captains and Whitecaps play game two of their three-game series on Saturday night. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.

Check out the Lake County Captains Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from May 31, 2019


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.

OurSports Central