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MWL1 Lake County Captains

Pannone, Four-Run Sixth Drive Captains

May 10, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains have counted on Tom Pannone this year when they needed a big win and on Tuesday night, the left-hander came through. Pannone (3-2) gave up just one run over six innings on the mound and led Lake County to a 4-2 victory over the West Michigan Whitecaps at Classic Park.

Pannone shut the Whitecaps down in the first three innings, but had to work his way out of trouble in the fourth. The starter gave up a leadoff single to Brett Pirtle and then an RBI double to Will Allen to put the Whitecaps on top, 1-0. The inning could have gotten ugly with Allen on second and nobody out, but Pannone and the Captains defense tightened up.

After the double, Pannone got Will Maddox to ground out to first base, moving Allen to third base. The Captains brought the infield in and Pannone induced Shane Zeile to hit a grounder to shortstop. Willi Castro fielded the high bouncer and threw Allen out at the plate. Pannone then got Jose Azocar to ground out back to the mound to end the inning.

Lake County's offense rewarded Pannone in the sixth inning. The Captains put two runners on base right off the bat on a leadoff single by Yonathan Mendoza and a walk to Ka'ai Tom. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Castro came up and West Michigan expected a bunt. Castro squared around, but faked the bunt and swung away, grounding a single into right field to score Mendoza with the tying run. Tyler Krieger came up next and roped an RBI single to give Lake County a 2-1 lead.

After Krieger put the Captains on top, West Michigan pulled starter Sandy Baez from the game and brought in Josh Laxer out of the bullpen, but Lake County kept on hitting. Francisco Mejia delivered an RBI single and Connor Marabell drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to give the Captains a 4-1 lead. Lake County scored four runs on four hits in the breakout sixth inning.

West Michigan scored another run in the seventh inning against Captains reliever Dominic DeMasi on a double play ball off the bat of Steven Fuentes, but the Lake County bullpen did not let another run cross the plate. Matt Whitehouse recorded the final four outs to earn his second save. The lefty struck out Maddox to end the eighth inning with a pair of inherited runners aboard and later got David Gonzalez to ground out to shortstop to end the game.

Pannone earned the win and his second quality start of the season. The southpaw gave up five hits, walked one and struck out three. All three of Pannone's victories have come the day after a Captains loss.

Baez (0-4) suffered his third loss against Lake County, though he pitched well until the sixth. Baez had only allowed two hits and struck out six men before the decisive Lake County sixth. The West Michigan starter began the sixth, but did not record an out. At the end of his outing, Baez had allowed four runs on five hits. He walked one and struck out six men.

Lake County and West Michigan will face off in the rubber game of the three-game series on Wednesday, as the teams have split the first two games. The clubs will get up early to play a morning game at 11:00 a.m. at Classic Park.

Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2016 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.

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Midwest League Stories from May 10, 2016


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