MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Loons Battle, Fall Short

Published on August 21, 2015 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


COMSTOCK PARK, MICHIGAN - West Michigan scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on Thursday night and won 6-4 for its third straight victory against the Loons at Fifth Third Ballpark.

The Loons (60-60; 22-30) lost their final three games of a nine-game road trip and finish the stretch with a 4-5 mark. West Michigan (64-56; 31-20) moves to 8-5 against the Loons this season.

Both sides rocked back and forth to a 3-3 tie through seven innings. Right-hander J.D. Underwood (L, 4-2) entered to pitch the bottom of the eighth and the Whitecaps pounced on a double down the left field line by Tigers' fourth round draft choice Kade Scivicque to begin the frame.

The Tigers' first round draft choice, Christin Stewart, batted next and with the Loons' corner infielders drawn in, Stewart smoked a grounder down the first base line past Justin Chigbogu to give West Michigan a 4-3 lead. The Whitecaps doubled in two more runs off Underwood and led 6-3 to start the ninth.

Lefty Brian Wolfe hit an RBI double to the gap for the Loons, but the rally fell short. Wolfe notched three hits, a double and four RBI for the Loons in the loss. Chigbogu became the first Loon to double three times in a game this season.

Wolfe's RBI single in the first inning gave the Loons an early 1-0 lead, but West Michigan countered with an RBI double to left by Victor Padron, who made his Whitecaps' debut on Thursday night. It was the only blemish on righty starter Andrew Sopko's line. The righty threw 4.1 innings and exited when his pitch count crept to 75 in the fifth.

West Michigan took the lead on Will Kengor's RBI triple down the left field line in the bottom of the sixth. Wolfe made a diving play on the ball, which landed close to the foul line and was ruled fair. Stewart scored from first on the play, and Kengor attempted to complete an inside-the-park home run, but was thrown out at home to end the inning.

In the aftermath, Loons' field manager Luis Matos was ejected from the game when he disputed the ruling of a fair ball. It marked the second time Matos had been canned (May 28 at Fort Wayne).

The Loons rallied and scored two runs on a Wolfe single in the top of the seventh to usurp West Michigan 3-2. But in the bottom of the seventh, Francisco Contreras reached on a third strike wild pitch and later scored from third when righty A.J. Simcox hit a comebacker that deflected off Loons' reliever Scott Griggs.

The Loons return to Dow Diamond Friday to open a three-game series with the Dayton Dragons. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. EDT with coverage at 6:30 on ESPN 100.9-FM.

The Great Lakes Loons are a ninth-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For tickets and more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com, or call 989-837-BALL.

Check out the Great Lakes Loons Statistics

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



Midwest League Stories from August 21, 2015


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