MWL Lake County Captains

Early Outburst Carries Captains Past Late TinCaps Charge

Published on July 7, 2021 under Midwest League (MWL)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Fort Wayne, IN) - Seven runs in the first three innings were enough for the Lake County Captains (31-25) to hold off a late comeback from the Fort Wayne TinCaps (23-32) to win 7-6 on Wednesday from Parkview Field.

Lake County came out aggressive, swinging at all eight pitches they saw in the first inning to the tune of a 2-0 lead. Will Brennan wasted no time in blasting a solo home run to right field. José Tena quickly followed with a double, then advanced to third on a ground out to first from George Valera. With one out Joe Naranjo hit a soft fly to right field that was caught by Agustin Ruiz. He fired home a good throw home but the slide into the plate from Tena jarred the ball out of the glove of catcher Jonny Homza for the second Captains run of the inning.

In the second Clark Scolamiero, Mike Amditis and Victor Nova all walked in succession to load the bases with no outs. After a Quentin Holmes strikeout, Brennan jumped on the first pitch he saw again. He bounced a single up the middle to score Scolamiero and Amditis to push the Captains lead to 4-0. With runners on first and third and one out Tena hit a pop-up to shallow center. Nova raced home and just beat the tag from Homza. With two outs and Valera at the plate Brennan swiped second base to move into scoring position. That set the table for a Valera single up the middle to chase home Brennan and give the Captains a 6-0 advantage.

Ray Delgado doubled to begin the third inning for the Captains. With one out a pop up dropped in shallow center field for a single off the bat of Amditis. Nova followed with a routine fly ball to center field that was deep enough to score Delgado on a sacrifice fly and the Captains lead was pushed to 7-0.

In the bottom of the fourth the TinCaps got on the scoreboard against Captains' starter Xzavion Curry. Chris Givin led off with a single for the first TinCaps hit of the game. A one out walk of Tirso Ornelas put two runners on. With two down Seamus Curran delivered an RBI single cutting the Captains lead to 7-1.

Two more runs came across for Fort Wayne in the sixth inning to make the score 7-3, Captains. With two outs Tirso Ornelas poked a single to left field to extend the inning. Justin Lopez followed with a two-run blast down the right field line to touch Curry for two runs with two outs.

Another run came across for the TinCaps in the seventh. Jawuan Harris for a hit to start the inning and reached second base when Curry's throw to first escaped Naranjo. Harris wasted little time stealing third base. With two outs he came home on a wild pitch from Captains reliever Jared Janczak to cut the Captains lead to 7-4.

Fort Wayne rallied in the bottom of the ninth. With one out Jonny Homza reached on an error at third by Nova. The next batter Chris Givin looped a soft single barely over Joe Naranjo at first base. Agustin Ruiz was next and he singled to right field to chase home Homza. Reinaldo Ilarraza entered the game for Ruiz to pinch run. With runners on first and second, Captains reliever Jerson Ramirez uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Givin to move to third and Ilarraza to move to second. After Ramirez fell behind Ornelas three balls to no strikes the Captains intentionally walked him to load the bases. Ornelas was replaced by pinch runner Grant Little. Justin Lopez followed and lifted a fly ball to left field that was caught by George Valera. The sacrifice fly scored Givin to bring the TinCaps within one run. With two outs and runners on first and second Ramirez struck out Seamus Curran to end the game and hold the Captains lead at 7-6.

Curry (2-0) tossed 6.1 innings for his longest start as a Captain to earn the win. He struck out eight, allowing four runs, three were earned on five hits and two walks.

Edwuin Bencomo (3-4) allowed the first six Captains runs and took the loss. He surrendered four hits and walked three in two innings of work.

Ramirez (1) worked the final 1.1 on the mound to earn his first save as a Captain. He allowed two unearned runs with two hits, one walk and two strikeouts.

Kevin Coulter is scheduled to start for the Captains in the third game of the six-game series. First pitch at Parkview Field is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Check out the Lake County Captains Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from July 7, 2021


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