MWL1 Lake County Captains

Whitecaps' Seven Unanswered Sink Captains

Published on June 29, 2019 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


(Comstock Park, MI) - The Lake County Captains (6-3, 46-32) took an early 3-0 lead on Saturday night at Fifth Third Ballpark, but the West Michigan Whitecaps (4-5, 25-53) responded with seven unanswered runs to beat Lake County. The Captains lost game one of the three-game series to the Whitecaps, 7-3.

Lake County scored a pair of runs in the opening frame against West Michigan starter Gio Arriera. Bo Naylor doubled with one out and moved to third on a single by Jose Fermin. Ruben Cardenas then drove Naylor home with an RBI single. Two batters later, Jonathan Engelmann added to the lead. His hot-shot grounder caromed off the shoulder of third baseman Andre Lipcius for an RBI single to make it 2-0.

The Captains added to their lead in the third. Fermin and Cardenas began the frame with back-to-back singles. Fermin went from first to third on Cardenas' hit and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Josh Rolette to expand the Captains' lead to 3-0.

Parker Meadows, who finished Saturday's game just a triple shy of the cycle, started the Whitecaps' comeback effort. West Michigan's centerfielder led off the bottom of the third inning with a line drive home run to straightaway centerfield to trim the Captains' lead to 3-1.

In the fourth, a frantic play led to another West Michigan tally. Clark Brinkman singled with one out and, with Rey Rivera at the plate, started to break for second base. Brinkman stopped and headed back to first, as Naylor tried to pick him off. The catcher's throw, however, sailed high and bounded down the right field line. Brinkman bolted around the bases and scored to cut West Michigan's deficit to 3-2.

The Whitecaps scored three more runs in the fifth to take the lead. Meadows led off with a bunt to the third base side of the mound and Captains starter Luis Oviedo misfired, sending the ball down the right field line and moving Meadows up to second. After Vinny Esposito singled, Wenceel Perez doubled home Meadows to tie the score. Chris Proctor followed with an RBI single that gave the Whitecaps a 4-3 lead and Hector Martinez tacked on a run later in the inning with a sacrifice fly to center that plated Perez.

West Michigan added two more runs against lefty reliever Randy Valladares in the sixth. Meadows led off with a double, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Perez. Proctor then reached on an error and later scored on an infield hit by Martinez.

The Whitecaps' bullpen shut the Captains' offense down over the final 5.1 innings. Reliever Chance Kirby pitched 3.1 perfect innings to earn the win. Kirby (3-3) retired all 10 batters he faced, including four strikeouts. Jared Tobey then pitched two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, striking out two and walking none. The pair combined to set down 13 Captains in a row from the fourth through the eighth.

Oviedo (6-4) took the loss for Lake County. The right-hander allowed five runs, four earned, over 4.2 innings. He struck out seven, walked one and surrendered seven hits.

The Captains face the Whitecaps again on Sunday night in game two of a three-game series. First pitch at Fifth Third Ballpark is scheduled for 6:00 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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Midwest League Stories from June 29, 2019


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