First Place Hawks Bombard Captains

Published on June 5, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


The South Bend Silver Hawks used a barrage of homeruns to back up a strong start from Daniel Watts (8-2) and defeat the Lake County Captains 6-2 on Wednesday night. Third baseman Brandon Drury, catcher Roidany Aguila, and center fielder Breland Almadova all homered off of Captains starter Ryan Merritt (3-5) to extend the Hawks winning streak to five games. This victory also marked the Hawks 15th win in their last 16 games.

Lake County (20-35) got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning. Designated hitter Jeremy Lucas led off the inning with a walk. Left fielder Aaron Siliga then hit into a force play at second base, erasing Lucas. With Siliga on first, second baseman Yhoxian Medina lined a single to right field that advanced Siliga around to third base. Siliga then scored on third baseman Erik Gonzalez's ground out to give the Captains the 1-0 lead.

South Bend (39-17) used the long ball to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Right fielder Socrates Brito dragged a perfectly placed bunt down the first base line for a leadoff single. Drury, named a Midwest League All-Star on Wednesday evening, then hit the first pitch he saw from Merritt over the fence in left field to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.

The Silver Hawks stretched the lead further in the bottom of the sixth inning. Almadova led off the inning with a towering home run off of the Hawk's Nest beyond the left field stands on a 1-0 offering from Merritt. Brito followed Almadova with a line drive single to left field. After Drury flew out to center, Aguila hit the Hawks' third homerun of the night, yet another long drive to left field off of Merritt, giving the home team a 5-1 lead.

South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the National League West leading Arizona Diamondbacks, added a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to make it a 6-1 game. Designated hitter Mike Lang reached first on a throwing error by the Captains shortstop with one out. Lang then stole second before second baseman Fidel Pena struck out and Almadova walked to knock Merritt out of the game. Felix Sterling entered the game for Lake County and was greeted with a line drive single to right field by Brito that scored Lang.

Lake County, the Class-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, scratched out a run in the eighth inning off Watts as center fielder Logan Vick drove in Gonzalez with a two-out RBI double. Overall, Watts held Lake County to two runs through 7 2/3 innings, scattering seven hits and walking just one. He entered the game already leading the Midwest League in wins and he made sure he kept the top spot to himself with his eighth win of the season. JR Bradley came in for the Hawks with two outs in the eighth inning and a runner on second base. He got first baseman Joe Sever to groundout to the catcher to end the inning. Bradley went on to pitch a clean ninth inning with two strikeouts to close out the game for the Silver Hawks.

The series continues tomorrow morning with an early double header. First pitch of Game 1 is at 10:35am. Mason Radeke (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will get the start for the Captains while Midwest League All-Star Brandon Sinnery (2-2, 3.11 ERA) takes the hill for the Silver Hawks. Game 2 will begin approximately half an hour after the conclusion of Game 1. Jake Sisco (2-4, 3.27 ERA) is expected to start the game for Lake County while Brandon Perry (2-2, 4.22 ERA) starts for South Bend. It is both a School Day at the Cove and a Business Person's Special on Thursday. The special includes a Field Box seat, a hot dog, and a soda for $10. So get two games for the price of one and come on out to the Cove to see the Midwest League Eastern Division-leading Silver Hawks.

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



Midwest League Stories from June 5, 2013


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