MWL1 Lake County Captains

Top of the Order Sizzles

Published on July 27, 2019 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(South Bend, IN) - The top third of the Lake County Captains' (18-15, 58-44) order was red hot on Friday night, leading Lake County to a 6-4 win over the South Bend Cubs (16-17, 52-48). Quentin Holmes, Jose Fermin and Bo Naylor combined for five of the Captains' six runs and collectively went 7-for-12 with a home run, two doubles and three triples to help the Captains avoid a sweep at Four Winds Field.

The top-of-the-order trio got to work in the first inning. Holmes led off with a triple when Cubs centerfielder Cole Roederer tripped trying to catch a fly ball in left-center and Fermin followed by drilling a two-run homer over the left-centerfield wall. Naylor came up next and socked a double and later scored on a ground out by Cody Farhat to give the Captains a 3-0 lead.

South Bend responded with a run in the bottom of the first. D.J. Artis began the inning with a double Two batters later, an error by second baseman Ike Freeman on a grounder by Fidel Mejia scored Artis. Another error pulled the Cubs within one run in the second. Captains starter Alex Royalty retired the first two men in the inning, but an error by Fermin at shortstop put Marcus Mastrobuoni aboard. Artis then doubled to left-center to score Mastrobuoni, trimming the Captains' lead to 3-2.

The top of the Lake County order struck again in the fifth. Holmes slammed a triple to left-center with two outs and Fermin doubled down the left field line to bring Holmes in to score. Naylor then yanked a triple into the right field corner that scored Fermin to extend the Captains' advantage to 5-2.

The Cubs got another run back in the eighth. Artis, who reached base five times from the leadoff spot, began the inning with a single against reliever Jake Miednik. The southpaw then walked the next two men to load the bases, but induced a double play and a ground out to end the inning. The double play, off the bat of Rafelin Lorenzo, scored Artis to cut the Captains' lead to 5-3.

Lake County got that run back in the top of the ninth. Freeman worked a walk off of Carlos Vega to begin the inning. Holmes followed with a bunt and Vega whipped around to throw to second, but his throw clipped off of shortstop Andy Weber's glove and into center. Holmes reached first and Freeman made it to third. Vega exited due to an apparent injury while delivering his first pitch to Fermin, on which Holmes stole second. When Ivan Medina came in to relieve Vega, the Cubs opted to intentionally walk Fermin to load the bases. Naylor then roped a single to left that scored Freeman to extend Lake County's lead to 6-3.

The Cubs rallied in the bottom of the ninth and scored a run, but Miednik maintained the lead to close out the win and earn his first save of the year. Rafael Narea reached with one out on an infield single and an error by Freeman allowed Luke Reyonolds to reach. Mastrobuoni singled to score Narea, but Miednik got Artis to ground into a fielder's choice, forcing out pinch-runner Daniel Clayton at second, and Weber flied out to center for the final out of the game. Miednik pitched two innings and allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits with two walks and no strikeouts.

Skylar Arias picked up the win in relief. The lefty blanked the Cubs over 2.1 innings. Arias (4-1) gave up one hit, walked two, hit two batters and struck out three.

Carrera (5-5) took the loss. He pitched five innings and allowed five runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

Holmes ignited the Captains' offense from the leadoff spot, going 2-for-5 with two triples, two runs scored and a stolen base. From the two-spot, Fermin was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, a game-high three RBI, two runs and two walks. Naylor went 3-for-4 from the three-hole with a double, a triple, two RBI, a run and a walk.

The Captains took the final game of the three-game series at South Bend and will begin a three-game set against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Saturday in Bowling Green, KY. First pitch at Bowling Green Ballpark is scheduled for 7:35 p.m. ET.

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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Midwest League Stories from July 27, 2019


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