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MWL1 Lake County Captains

Gonzalez's Missile Seals Dramatic 1-0 Win

July 26, 2018 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Comstock Park, MI) - In a game dominated by pitching and defense, it was only fitting that the final act would be a play at the plate. Oscar Gonzalez sealed a 1-0 win for the Lake County Captains (15-16, 44-57) over the West Michigan Whitecaps (13-18, 49-52) on Wednesday night with a bullet throw to the plate to nab Brady Policelli trying to score the winning run. Gonzalez's throw ended the game and gave the Captains the victory in game one at Fifth Third Ballpark.

Lake County carried a 1-0 lead into the ninth, but the Whitecaps threatened against lefty Kyle Nelson. Policelli led off with a single to center and Kody Clemens pushed a bunt single past third baseman Nolan Jones to put men on first and second with nobody out. Nelson responded by striking out Brock Deatherage and Jordan Pearce looking. The southpaw then got ahead of Joey Morgan with two strikes. On the 1-2 pitch, Morgan laced a single through the shortstop hole and Policelli ripped around third. Gonzalez charged, fielded and fired a line drive to catcher Josh Rolette's chest. Rolette slapped the tag on Policelli, as the runner tried to hook slide in, for the final out of the game.

Great defense highlighted Wednesday night's contest from start to finish. In the bottom of the first, the Whitecaps had Clemens on second with one out when Deatherage hit a single up the middle. Clemens tried to score, but Todd Isaacs came up firing and delivered a strike to Rolette, who tagged out Clemens at home.

The Whitecaps also turned in a pair of defensive gems. In the first, Lake County had men on first and second with two outs and starter Dane Myers coordinated a pick off play with shortstop Cam Warner. Warner snuck in behind Gonzalez at second and Myers timed his throw perfectly to nab Gonzalez and end the inning. In the eighth, the Captains had the bases loaded with two outs when catcher Chris Proctor back-picked Elvis Perez off of first base for the final out of the frame.

Captains starter Jean Carlos Mejia was the other major story in the narrow win. Mejia (3-4) set a career-high with 10 strikeouts over seven shutout innings. He gave up just three hits and walked one to earn the win.

The Captains scored the game's only run on a hustle play in the fifth. Perez led off with a double down the right field line and Myers walked Rolette. Isaacs tried to sacrifice bunt the runners over, but missed and ultimately struck out swinging. Gabriel Mejia then lined out to Deatherage who raced from center to left-center to make a running catch for the second out. That brought up Richie Palacios. The lefty batter worked the count to 3-2, giving the runners a head start on the pitch. With the runners on the move, Palacios hit a broken bat flare to the right of second base. Playing in the shift, the shortstop Warner cut across, fielded the ball on a hop, bobbled it and threw late to first. Palacios beat the throw and Perez tore around third base. He slid in safely ahead of the throw from first baseman Rey Rivera. Warner was charged with an error and the Captains scored the only run they needed.

Myers (3-3) suffered the loss despite a strong outing on the hill. The right-hander worked six innings and allowed one unearned run on four hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

The Captains took game one of the three-game series from West Michigan and will face the Whitecaps in game two on Thursday night. First pitch at Fifth Third Ballpark is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Information about Classic Park or the Captains can be found online at www.captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Affordable ticket packages and group party and picnic options are available now.

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