MWL1 Lake County Captains

Whitecaps Silence Captains' Bats in Series Finale

Published on April 30, 2017 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Lake County Captains News Release


Eastlake, OH- Gregory Soto, Locke St. John and Eduardo Jimenez kept the Lake County Captains' (9-14) bats at bay on Sunday afternoon in the series finale at Classic Park. The West Michigan Whitecaps' (15-9) hurlers combined to surrender just one unearned run and West Michigan took home a 5-1 win, knocking off the Captains for the third day in a row.

Soto (2-0) had not allowed a run all season coming into Sunday's contest. That streak ended in the fourth inning when a passed ball allowed Conner Capel to score for Lake County, but that proved to be the only run the Captains could muster. Soto earned his second win, tossing five innings and surrendering four hits, while striking out five. He held the Captains to one run despite walking five. Lake County's run was unearned, thanks to an error earlier in the frame, which helped keep Soto's ERA at a perfect 0.00.

St. John, the left-hander, pitched 2.2 innings of shutout baseball before handing the ball off the closer Eduardo Jimenez for the final four outs. Jimenez set down all four men in order to earn his first save of the season.

West Michigan scored most of its runs in the first inning. The Whitecaps attacked Captains starter Shane Bieber early in the count and tallied four runs in the first on four hits and a pair of Lake County errors. Four of West Michigan's five runs in the ballgame were unearned thanks to a trio of Captains defensive miscues.

An error by first baseman Emmanuel Tapia opened the game and allowed Danny Woodrow to reach. Woodrow was erased on a fielder's choice, but Cam Gibson replaced him on first base and Jake Robson ripped a double to the left-centerfield gap to score Gibson all the way from first with the game's first run. Blaise Salter came up next and shot a hard grounder to third that Jorma Rodriguez stopped on a sensational dive to his backhand side. Rodriguez, however, could not complete the play. The third baseman threw wildly to first base, allowing Robson to score and Salter to advance to second on the error.

The torturous first inning continued for Lake County, as Josh Lester singled and Danny Pinero knocked in Salter from third with a sacrifice fly. Bieber nearly got out of the inning after that, but Pereira ripped a 2-2 pitch down the left field line for a double to plate Lester and give West Michigan a 4-0 lead. Bieber finally escaped the frame when he got Drew Longley to pop out to left field, but the damage was done and the Whitecaps rode that rally to victory.

The Captains scored their run in the fourth when Capel walked and came home to score on the passed ball by Longley, but theWhitecaps added one insurance run down the stretch to seal the deal. In the seventh inning, Bieber's final frame, Woodrow hit a one-out single and Gibson bunted him to second base. Robson then smacked a hard grounder that Tapia misplayed for an error and Woodrow waltzed home from second base to give West Michigan a 5-1 advantage.

Bieber (2-3) recovered strong after the first inning, but ultimately took the loss. From the second through the sixth, Bieber only surrendered three hits, one of which was a bunt single and the other an infield single. All-told, the right-hander pitched seven innings and allowed five runs, only one of which was earned. West Michigan tallied eight hits against Bieber and the Captains' starter fanned three batters. Bieber once again did not issue a walk and he threw over 85% of his pitches in the strike zone. Bieber has now walked just one man in 29 innings this year.

The Captains hit the road on Monday and head to Iowa to start a six-game road trip against the Cedar Rapids Kernels and the Quad Cities River Bandits. Lake County squares off against Cedar Rapids first on Tuesday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7:35 PM EST.

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). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2017 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 April 30, 2017


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