MWL1 Lake County Captains

Perez, Karinchak Spin Combined No-Hitter

Published on April 25, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Eastlake, OH) - Wednesday night belonged to Francisco Perez and James Karinchak. In the first game of the Lake County Captains' (10-8) doubleheader sweep against the West Michigan Whitecaps (11-6), Perez and Karinchak combined to throw the fourth no-hitter in Captains history.

Game one

Perez carved through Whitecaps hitters in the twin-bill opener and looked poised to carry the no-hitter all the way through the final out. The left-hander's outing was far from easy, as he worked around three errors and three walks over the first six innings, but Perez was always equal to the task.

In the first inning, Perez worked around a one-out error with a ground ball and a strikeout. He then got a double-play ball to escape a one-out walk in the second. In the third, Perez was again victimized by a one-out error, but Cole Peterson hit a soft liner back to the mound. Perez made the catch and then whipped a strike to first base to double off Alexis Garcia and end the inning.

The fourth also proved treacherous for Perez. After a one-out error allowed Luke Burch to reach, Burch stole second base and, with two outs, was accompanied on the basepaths by Jordan Pearce, who worked a walk. Perez escaped trouble, however, by getting Zac Shepherd to fly out to center for the final out of the inning.

Perez had a little smoother sailing in the next two frames. In the fifth, the lefty worked a one-two- three inning with a couple of fly outs to centerfield and a strikeout. The following inning, he induced a pop up, struck out Dylan Rosa, walked Burch with two outs and struck out Colby Bortles to end the frame.

Perez took the ball at the start of the seventh and made quick work of Pearce with a pop up to shortstop for the first out. Then, however, the lefty fell into trouble. Perez walked Shepherd, Joey Morgan and Garrett McCain in succession to load the bases and was pulled from the game just two outs shy of what could have been the first individual no-hitter in Captains history.

Karinchak came in from the bullpen, not only with the no-hitter on the line, but also the game. The Captains led, 4-0, and the Whitecaps brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Garcia. Karinchak, however, struck out Garcia looking. He then got Peterson to pop out to Austen Wade in left field for the final out, securing the first Captains' no-hitter since April 11, 2011.

Perez (1-0) picked up the much-deserved win for Lake County. The southpaw pitched 6.1 innings of no-hit baseball, striking out four and walking six, though half of those walks came in the final frame. Karinchak earned his first save of the year.

Lake County's offense provided run support in the form of three homers and a double. Will Benson highlighted the laser show with a pair of monster home runs. Benson unloaded on leadoff homers in the fourth and sixth innings, both of which traveled far over the right field wall and clanged off the roof of the Classic Park batting cages. The homers were Benson's third and fourth of the year. Jonathan Laureano also hit a solo homer off the right field foul pole in the second inning for his second homer since Sunday and Wade hit an RBI double in the first.

Garett King took the loss for the Whitecaps. He allowed four runs over five innings and started the sixth, but exited the game two batters after Benson's sixth-inning homer. King (0-1) surrendered seven hits, walked two and struck out three.

Game two

Lake County fell behind early in game two, but clawed back thanks to consistent hitting and lights-out relief pitching. After allowing three runs in the first, the Captains came back to take game two, 6-3, and earn the doubleheader sweep.

The Whitecaps loaded the bases in the top of the first against Captains starter Kirk McCarty thanks to a bunt single and two walks. With two outs and the bags full, Brady Policelli singled to score Burch and McCain. The hit gave West Michigan a 2-0 lead and knocked McCarty out of the ballgame. Domingo Jimenez came in from the bullpen and recorded the final out on a strikeout, but not before his wild pitch scored Rosa to give the Whitecaps a 3-0 advantage.

The Captains' bullpen shut the door from there and West Michigan managed just one more hit the rest of the game. Jimenez (3-0) tossed 3.1 innings of hitless ball with six strikeouts and three walks, ultimately earning the win. Kyle Nelson followed with two shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out three. Jonathan Teaney then pitched a one-two-three seventh with a strikeout to pick up his second save of the year.

Lake County's offense chipped away at the 3-0 deficit just two batters into the bottom of the first. Whitecaps starter Elvin Rodriguez walked Ernie Clement to lead off the inning and Nolan Jones followed by lifting an opposite-field home run into the left field bleachers, cutting West Michigan's lead to 3-2.

The Captains capitalized on an error to tie the game in the fourth. With two outs, Wade hit a soft liner to Garcia at second base, but he backed up to play the ball on one bounce. Garcia fumbled the ball and threw wide to first, allowing Wade to reach on the error. Jorma Rodriguez came up next and drilled a triple over McCain's head in centerfield. Wade scored to tie the game at 3-3.

Lake County surged ahead in the fourth. Jose Vicente led off with a double off of the left field wall and Todd Isaacs came up next. With Bortles playing in at third base, Isaacs blooped a soft fly ball over the third baseman's head and into the shallow left field grass. Vicente scored the go-ahead run, as Isaacs slid into second with a double. Isaacs later moved to third on a fly ball to centerfield and scored on a wild pitch to give the Captains a 5-3 lead. Wade put a lid on the scoring with a leadoff homer to right field the following inning.

Rodriguez (1-1) took the loss for the Whitecaps. The West Michigan starter pitched 3.2 innings and allowed five runs, four of which were earned, on eight hits. He struck out five and walked one.

The Captains have taken the first three games of their four-game series from West Michigan and have tied a season-high with a four-game winning streak. Lake County will try to sweep the series on Thursday. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for noon.

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

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



Midwest League Stories from April 25, 2018


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