MWL1 Lake County Captains

Morgan Deals and Captains Slug Past Cougars

Published on May 8, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Geneva, IL) - Eli Morgan pitched five shutout innings and the Lake County Captains' (14-16) offense tallied a season-high 17 hits on Tuesday afternoon in a 9-3 victory over the Kane County Cougars (13-16). Five Captains delivered multi-hit performances and Will Benson homered for the second straight day to help the Captains even the series with the Cougars at Northwestern Medicine Field.

Morgan was dialed in all afternoon. The right-hander allowed just two base hits in the first four innings, both of which were singles by Gabriel Maciel and one of which was a bunt hit. The Captains' starter also came up big in the few sweat-inducing moments he experienced. He struck out Eudy Ramos to leave Maciel stranded at third in the first and struck out Yoel Yanqui to end the third, again with Maciel left on third base. Morgan (2-0), who earned the win, struck out eight batters over five innings, walked one and allowed just three hits.

The Captains' offense put runners in scoring position in four of the first five innings, but had a hard time pushing runs across against Kane County starter Cole Stapler. In the third, however, the Captains broke through. Gianpaul Gonzalez hit a hard grounder to third base that kicked off the glove of Joey Rose for a single and Ernie Clement singled to push his on-base streak to 21 games. With two on and nobody out, Jorma Rodriguez drove home Gonzalez with a single. Clement later scored on a ground out by Oscar Gonzalez to give the Captains a 2-0 lead.

Benson doubled the lead in the fifth. With two outs and Nolan Jones on first, Benson cracked a low line drive that just cleared the right field wall to give the Captains a 4-0 lead. The homer was Benson's second homer in as many days and put him into a tie with Lansing's Kacy Clemens for the Midwest League lead.

The Cougars scratched across a run in the sixth. After Morgan exited, Jasrado Chisholm led off the inning with a double against right-hander Dakody Clemmer. Eudy Ramos later singled to put runners on the corners and Ernie De La Trinidad hit a sacrifice fly to left that brought home Chisholm to cut the Captains' lead to 4-1.

Lake County pulled away with five runs in the last two innings. Rodriguez tacked on two with a single in the eighth that brought home both Todd Isaacs and Clement. Gianpaul Gonzalez then hit a three-run home run to left field in the ninth to give the Captains a 9-1 lead. The Cougars cut it to 9-3 in the bottom of the ninth with a two-out, two-run homer by Maciel.

Stapler (1-2) took the loss for the Cougars. The right-hander worked 4.2 innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits. He struck out five and did not issue a walk.

Skylar Arias earned his first professional save for Lake County. The left-hander pitched 2.2 innings and gave up two runs, both on the Maciel home run, which was the only hit he allowed. Arias walked one and struck out four. He also escaped a tough jam in the seventh, striking out Chisholm and Yanqui back-to-back with two men on in a three-run game.

Rodriguez, Jones and Ulysses Cantu paced the Captains' offense with three hits each. Rodriguez led the team with three RBI. Jones was 3-for-5 with three singles and a run. Cantu was 3-for-5 with a double and a run. Isaacs and Gonzalez each went 2-for-5 and scored twice.

The Captains also set a 2018 high for stolen bases in a single game, swiping seven bags. Isaacs led the Captains with three steals, while Clement and Rodriguez each had two. The Captains pulled off two successful double steals in the ballgame.

Lake County and Kane County will wrap up their three-game series on Wednesday in the rubber game of the series. It will be the Captains' fourth consecutive rubber game. They have lost their previous three. First pitch at Northwestern Medicine Field is scheduled for noon EST.

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.

Check out the Lake County Captains Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from May 8, 2018


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