Fort Wayne's Four-Run Ninth Proves Critical, Captains Fall 8-3
MWL Lake County Captains

Fort Wayne's Four-Run Ninth Proves Critical, Captains Fall 8-3

Published on April 17, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Lake County Captains News Release


EASTLAKE, Ohio - In the second game of a scheduled six-game series, the Lake County Captains (5-6) fell to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (4-7) by a final score of 8-3 in a rain-delayed contest on Thursday night at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

The ballgame was delayed for a combined one hour and 56 minutes, with a delayed start and another rain delay in the top of the seventh inning.

Captains LHP Jackson Humphries (ND) twirled arguably the best start of his pro career, allowing just one run on two hits, while striking out a pro career-high 10 batters without issuing a walk in five innings of work.

Each of the game's first seven runs were courtesy of solo home runs.

Lake County opened the scoring in the first, as CF Jaison Chourio, MLB Pipeline's No. 11 Guardians prospect, hit a leadoff home run the opposite way. This marked his second straight game with a homer and second long ball of the season.

Fort Wayne answered quickly as C Lamar King Jr., MLB Pipeline's No. 16 Padres prospect, hit a solo shot in the second to tie the game at 1-1.

A half-inning later, the Captains would retake the lead thanks to a solo blast from LF Esteban González, his second home run of the year.

The TinCaps eventually took their first lead of the night in the sixth inning and retained the advantage for good.

Down to their last out of the frame, 3B Rosman Verdugo tied the game with a solo home run. One batter later, DH Alex McCoy, MLB Pipeline's No. 21 Padres prospect, hammered a go-ahead home run at 110.3 mph off the bat to put Fort Wayne ahead 3-2.

Fort Wayne tacked on another run in the seventh on another solo shot from LF Jake Cunningham.

Lake County then cut the deficit to one an inning later on a no-doubt solo blast by DH Ryan Cesarini.

But the TinCaps pulled away with four runs in the ninth on an RBI double by King Jr. and a three-run homer by Cunningham, his second long ball of the game.

RHP Tucker Musgrove (W, 1-0), MLB Pipeline's No. 11 Padres prospect, picked up the win for Fort Wayne with a scoreless, hitless inning of relief with three strikeouts in his High-A debut.

LHP Braian Salazar (S, 1) earned the save with five strikeouts in 1.2 scoreless innings out of the TinCaps bullpen.

RHP Sean Matson (L, 0-1; BS, 1) suffered the loss for Lake County. The right-hander allowed back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the sixth inning and struck out three in 1.2 frames out of the Captains bullpen.

The third and fourth games of this week's scheduled six-game series between the Captains and TinCaps are set to be a seven-inning doubleheader on Friday, April 17, as Lake County will celebrate Bald Night at the ballpark. Gates will open at 3:30 p.m., with first pitch for Game 1 scheduled for 4 p.m. and first pitch for Game 2 to follow approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1. The games will be broadcast on the Bally Sports Live App, MLB.TV, the MiLB App, and StreamGuys, with social media coverage courtesy of @LCCaptains on X and Instagram.

NOTES TO KNOW

- LHP Jackson Humphries tallied 10 strikeouts and no walks on Thursday night. This marked the first outing of at least 10 strikeouts without a walk since LHP Parker Messick logged 11 strikeouts and no walks in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Beloit on June 6, 2024.

- INF Dean Curley, MLB Pipeline's No. 13 Guardians prospect, reached base three times with a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and a single on Thursday night. The 2025 second-round pick out of Tennessee has reached base in eight of his 11 plate appearances through the first two games of this week's series.

- OF Jaison Chourio hit a leadoff home run on Thursday night. This marked Lake County's first leadoff home run since INF Christian Knapczyk hit a leadoff homer on Aug. 7, 2025 at Dayton.

Check out the Lake County Captains Statistics

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