MWL1 Lake County Captains

Farhat's 10th-Inning Heroics Lift Captains

Published on July 27, 2019 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Bowling Green, KY) - Cody Farhat delivered the clutch hit for the Lake County Captains (19-15, 59-44) on Saturday in a 10-inning win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods (22-12, 61-43). With two outs and the game still tied, Farhat came through with a two-run single into center to propel the Captains to a 7-5 win at Bowling Green Ballpark.

Bowling Green drew first blood in the opening frame, thanks to a pair of two-out doubles. Captains starter Zach Draper induced back-to-back ground outs to shortstop to begin the game, but Jonathan Aranda poked a double down the left field line and Chris Betts pulled a double into the right field corner to give the Hot Rods the lead.

Farhat knotted the score at 1-1 in the top of the second. Hot Rods starter Alan Strong had retired the first five batters he faced when Farhat took the right-hander deep over the right-centerfield wall.

The Hot Rods retaliated with two runs in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead. Grant Witherspoon, Tony Pena and Erik Ostberg hit three straight singles to begin the inning, the last of which scored Witherspoon. Izzy Wilson then hit a grounder to second that plated Pena to extend Bowling Green's lead to 3-1.

Another solo homer pulled the Captains closer in the third. Miguel Jerez began the inning by landing a fly ball in the right field bullpen. It was the Captains' second hit and second solo homer of the game and it cut the Hot Rods' lead to 3-2.

The Captains pounced on a pair of two-out errors to take their first lead in the fifth. Connor Smith was on with a one-out single when Ike Freeman came up with two down. Freeman hit a bouncer to deep shortstop that Osmy Gregorio fumbled for an error. Quentin Holmes followed and hit a soft fly ball into shallow left. Wilson charged, but could not get to the ball. The left fielder then misplayed the hop and the ball rolled under his glove. Smith scored to tie the game and Freeman raced around from first to score on the fielding error and give the Captains a 4-3 lead. Jose Fermin then singled in Holmes to make it 5-3.

Bowling Green scored a run in the fifth and a run in the seventh to tie the game. Ford Proctor led off the fifth with a flare to shallow center. Holmes raced in, but could not make the catch. The centerfielder swiped at the ball and it ricocheted all the way to right. Proctor cruised into second with a double, but Holmes' throw to the infield got away and Proctor took third. Gregorio's ground out to second scored Proctor.

With the Hot Rods trailing by one in the seventh, Proctor ignited another rally. He singled with one out against reliever Luis Valdez, stole second and made it to third on the same pitch when the ball got away from catcher Bo Naylor. Gregorio walked and, with the infield in, Jonathan Aranda chopped a ball into right to score Proctor with the tying run.

The game remained tied until the 10th inning. Holmes was placed on second as the Captains' free runner, per Minor League Baseball extra inning rules. Fermin led off and swung at the first pitch from reliever Joel Peguero. Fermin's bat hit Betts' mitt and the batter reached on catcher's interference. Naylor sacrifice bunted the runners to second and third, so the Hot Rods intentionally walked Ruben Cardenas to load the bases. Peguero struck out Josh Rolette for the second out and got to two strikes on Farhat. With the bases loaded and two outs, Farhat slammed Peguero's 1-2 pitch into centerfield. Both Holmes and Fermin scored to give the Captains a 7-5 lead.

Kyle Marman retired the side in the 10th to finish 3.2 scoreless innings of relief and nail down the win. Marman (4-2) struck out seven, walked none and held the Hot Rods to two hits.

Peguero (3-2) took the loss. The Bowling Green right-hander pitched one inning and allowed two runs, one earned, on one hit, one walk and one strikeout.

The Captains snapped Bowling Green's three-game winning streak and took game one of the three-game series. First pitch for game two is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday at Bowling Green Ballpark.

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.

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Midwest League Stories from July 27, 2019


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