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MWL1 Lake County Captains

Captains Walk off in Extra Innings over Hot Rods

July 20, 2015 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Eastlake, OH) -The Lake County Captains had a little of everything at Classic Park on Monday night. A big crowd turned out to watch Cleveland Indian Nick Swisher on a rehab assignment. 2014 first round draft pick Justus Sheffield dominated on the mound and the offense rallied for a walk off 4-3 win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods in ten innings.

Bowling Green took an early lead in the top of the second inning. With one out Mac James double, the first of seven doubles on the night for the Hot Rods. He would then score when Nick Ciuffo followed with an RBI double for a 1-0 lead.

The Captains would tie the game in the bottom of the fifth inning. Yu-Cheng Chang started the inning with a base hit. Francisco Mejia would then ground out to first, a throw to second bounced off of Chang's foot and rolled into centerfield for an error allowing Chang to advance to third. Steven Patterson would then deliver an RBI sacrifice fly to score Chang and tie the game at 1.

Lake County would take the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Swisher started the inning with a single. With one out he would move to third on Anthony Santander's double off the wall in rightfield. After Bobby Bradley was intentionally walked to load the bases, Yonathan Mendoza delivered with an RBI sacrifice fly to score Swisher. Santander would advance to third when the throw to the plate got past the catcher. He would then score on an RBI single from Chang for a 3-1 lead.

Bowling Green tied the game in the top of the eighth inning. With one out and a runner on second, Hunter Lockwood connected on an opposite field two run homerun to tie the game at 3. It was Lockwood's third homerun in as many games.

After stranding the winning run on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Captains would win the game in the tenth inning. Taylor Murphy would draw a walk to start the inning. Greg Allen then doubled into leftfield to put the winning run a third with no outs. The Hot Rods would then intentionally walk Santander to load the bases with no outs. Bradley would promptly line a 1-0 pitch off of third base. The ball bounced right to Grant Kay who made the off balance throw to the plate. However, Hot Rods' catcher Nick Ciuffo tried to tag Murphy at the plate rather than step on the plate for the force out. Murphy's slide knocked the ball loose from his glove scoring the walk off run.

Justus Sheffield got a no decision after going 4.2 innings. He allowed 1 earned run on 6 hits. Sheffield walked 1 and struck out 6. Caleb Hamrick would then go 0.1 of an inning in relief. He did not allow a hit, run or walk. Hamrick did not record a strike out. Julian Merryweather would then go 3.1 innings. He allowed 2 runs, both earned, on 5 hits. Merryweather walked 1 and struck out 3. Luke Eubank (1-1) earned the win in 1.2 relief innings. He did not allow a hit, run or a walk. Eubank struck out 2.

Swisher went 2-3 with base hits. He will return to Classic Park for another rehab appearance on Tuesday night. He is scheduled to play the outfield in that game.

With the win the Captains take the series from Bowling Green, 2 games to 1. The Captains will welcome the Fort Wayne Tincaps to Classic Park for a three game series starting Tuesday night. The Captains will send Anderson Polanco to the mound. First pitch is set for 700PM. Individual game tickets are on sale now at the Classic Park Box Office, Online at CaptainsBaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2015 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits.

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