Nightmare ninth dooms Captains

(Eastlake, OH) - A devastating ninth inning cursed the Lake County Captains on Tuesday night against the Dayton Dragons at Classic Park. The Captains led 4-1 entering the top of the ninth, but Dayton tallied five runs in a monster rally to beat Lake County, 6-4.

The Dragons' rally began when Lake County reliever Kieran Lovegrove walked Ed Charlton to lead off the inning. After a pair of wild pitches moved Charlton to third, Shane Mardirosian battled for 14 pitches against Lovegrove and eventually won the fight with an RBI single to cut Lake County's lead to 4-2.

Lovegrove struck out pinch-hitter Reydel Medina after giving up the single, but then promptly walked another pinch-hitter, Shed Long. With Long on first and Mardirosian on second, Dragons lead-off man Zack Shields delivered the next big hit with an RBI single that scored Mardirosian and pulled Dayton within one run.

Lake County went to the bullpen after Shields' single. Lovegrove's night was done and Dominic DeMasi entered the ballgame to face Brantley Bell with two men on and just one out. Bell came through for Dayton, grounding a single just past shortstop Willi Castro and into center. Long crossed the plate and the Dragons had tied the game, 4-4.

Though the Captains let the lead slip away, they still had an opportunity to get out of the inning without further damage. The Dragons had runners on the corners, still with one out, and Gavin LaValley hit a ground ball to Sam Haggerty at third base. Haggerty fielded the ball and opted to throw home, but he yanked the throw to the right of catcher Francisco Mejia and the ball skipped to the backstop. Shields scored the go-ahead run to give Dayton a 5-4 lead. The Dragons later added a run to make it 6-4 when James Vasquez hit a grounder to shortstop with the infield in and Bell beat Castro's throw to the plate.

Dayton shut the door in the ninth inning, but not before the Captains threatened to mount a comeback of their own. With two outs, Mejia singled against Dragons closer Ariel Hernandez to keep the game alive and then Hernandez walked Nathan Lukes. All of a sudden, Lake County had the tying run on base and the winning run coming up to bat in the form of Connor Marabell. Marabell chopped a grounder to the right of Vasquez, but the first baseman made a sliding stop and threw to Hernandez covering the bag. Hernandez beat Marabell in the foot-race to the bag to seal the win for Dayton.

Prior to the Dragons' ninth-inning comeback, the Captains successfully climbed out of a more modest hole. Dayton took the lead in the fourth when Vasquez led off the inning with a home run off of Captains starter Tom Pannone, but Lake County came from behind to take the lead in the sixth.

Mejia delivered the tying run with an RBI single against Dayton starter Jacob Constante and after the left-hander loaded the bases with one out, the Dragons called on Manuel Aybar out of the bullpen. Aybar's first pitch, however, betrayed him. The right-handed reliever hit Haggerty with a pitch, forcing home Tyler Krieger with the go-ahead run. Lake County then added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth against reliever Jeremy Kivel. Marabell scampered home on a wild pitch and Yonathan Mendoza gave Lake County a 4-1 advantage with an RBI single, but the extra runs turned out to be of little consequence.

Despite giving up two runs in the eighth, Kivel (1-0) earned the win. The right-hander only pitched that one inning, in which he gave up three hits and struck out a pair. Hernandez nailed down his second save and Lovegrove (1-1) took the loss. Lovegroge only recorded one out in the ninth and allowed four runs, three earned, on two hits and two walks. His lone out was a strikeout. DeMasi was charged with a blown save.

Lake County will not have to wait long to exact revenge upon Dayton, as the two clubs will meet again on Wednesday morning at Classic Park. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.

Individual game tickets 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 2016 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.