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MWL1 Lake County Captains

Picantes Win Game One, Captains Lose Game Two

June 2, 2019 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains (34-22) split a doubleheader with the West Michigan Whitecaps (20-37) on Sunday at Classic Park. With the teams dressed in their Copa de la Diversión uniforms for game one, the Picantes de Lake County defeated the Calaveras de West Michigan, 7-3. The teams returned to their traditional identities for game two and the Whitecaps defeated the Captains, 4-2.

Click here for more information on the Picantes and Minor League Baseball's Copa de la Diversión program.

Game One

The Calaveras jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. After Picantes starter Thomas Ponticelli retired the first two men, Sam McMillan kept the inning going with a check swing single and Ulrich Bojarski followed with a two-run homer to left-centerfield.

The Picantes responded with a two-run homer of their own in the bottom of the first. Tyler Freeman singled with one out and Ruben Cardenas cracked a solo shot just to the left of dead-centerfield to even the score at 2-2 on the right fielder's eighth homer of the year.

Another long ball put West Michigan back in front. With two outs in the top of the second, Calaveras second baseman Jose King wrapped a line drive around the right field foul pole to give West Michigan a 3-2 lead.

Lake County grabbed the lead in the third. Freeman roped a double off the wall in left-centerfield with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored the tying run when Cardenas lifted a sacrifice fly to right. Will Benson came up next and lifted a solo homer to right field, his 15th of the year, to give the Picantes a 4-3 advantage.

The Picantes tacked on a run in the fourth inning. Jesse Berardi walked with one out and Miguel Jerez smoked a double that brought Berardi home all the way from first to extend the Captains' lead to 5-3. Two innings later, Berardi hit a two-run homer to push the advantage to 7-3.

Ponticelli (2-0) earned the win after going five innings and allowing three runs. The Picantes' starter allowed five hits, walked three and struck out three. Kellen Rholl picked up the save after retiring all six men he faced over the sixth and seventh innings.

Calaveras starter Gio Arriera (2-3) took the loss after surrendering five runs over four innings. He gave up five hits, walked two and struck out five.

Game Two

The Whitecaps scored two first-inning runs for the second game in a row, this time off of right-hander Alex Royalty. Wenceel Perez reached on an infield single to begin the game, Chris Proctor singled with one out and a catcher's interference by Gianpaul Gonzalez put Bojarski on to load the bases. Gonzalez had to leave the game and Bo Naylor came in to finish the game behind the dish. As the inning continued following the substitution, Rey Rivera drew a bases-loaded walk and Royalty hit Daniel Reyes with the bases loaded to force in Perez and Proctor. The Whitecaps took an early 2-0 lead.

Lake County got a run back in the second. Mitch Reeves reached with one out on a throwing error by third baseman Jordan Pears. After a single by Berardi moved Reeves to third, Hosea Nelson knocked in Reeves with a sacrifice fly to cut the Captains' deficit to 2-1.

A blast by Benson tied the game in the fourth. After slamming his 15th homer of the year in game one, Benson clobbered his 16th long ball of the season in game two. The drive to right field evened the score at 2-2.

Another Bojarski homer put the Whitecaps back in front. The West Michigan right fielder had gone deep in game one with his seventh of the year. In the sixth inning of game two, he took a pitch from Royalty over the left field wall and into the bleachers for home run number eight and a 3-2 West Michigan lead. A sacrifice fly by Vinny Esposito brought home Avery Tuck from third in the seventh to add an insurance run.

The Captains rallied in the bottom of the seventh, but came up short. Berardi led off with a single and Naylor singled to right-center with one out to put runners on the corners. West Michigan removed lefty reliever Jared Tobey in favor of right-hander Yaya Chentouf with the right-handed Quentin Holmes due to hit. Holmes popped out to the catcher in foul ground for the second out. With runners still on the corners and Jose Fermin at the plate at the top of the Captains' order, a ball got away from the Whitecaps' catcher and Naylor took off for second. Proctor recovered the ball and threw Naylor out at second to end the game.

Whitecaps starter Chance Kirby earned the win. He pitched five innings and held Lake County to two runs, one earned, on two hits. Kirby (1-2) struck out seven and did not issue a walk. Chentouf picked up his third save after helping to get the last two outs.

Royalty (1-3) suffered the defeat. The right-hander pitched 5.1 innings and allowed three runs, two earned, on three hits. Royalty walked one batter, hit a pair and struck out five.

The Captains took two out of three games from West Michigan and will have a day off on Monday before hitting the road for a three-game series with the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Tuesday. First pitch for the series opener at Parkview Field is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.

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