Captains fall short in 1,000th MWL Game
(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains (12-18) played their 1,000th Midwest League game on Monday night at Classic Park against the Beloit Snappers (14-15). The Captains almost made the milestone night a memorable one, coming back from a four-run deficit, but ultimately falling short in a 7-6 loss in
(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains (12-18) played their 1,000th Midwest League game on Monday night at Classic Park against the Beloit Snappers (14-15). The Captains almost made the milestone night a memorable one, coming back from a four-run deficit, but ultimately falling short in a 7-6 loss in the series-opener.
The Captains and Snappers traded runs over the first three innings. Beloit took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a ground out and a Lake County miscue. With Mike Martin on third and Nate Mondou on second, Luke Persico hit a grounder to third baseman
Lake County answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. After Snappers starter Dalton Sawyer retired the first two men in the inning, the lefty walked
The Captains grabbed their first and only lead of the game with small ball in the second inning. De La Cruz and Rodriguez knocked back-to-back singles to open the frame and
The Snappers took the lead in the fifth inning on a hustle play by Martin. After Martin ripped his second double of the night to start the inning and moved up to third on a ground out, Persico hit a high pop up in foul territory outside of first base. De La Cruz made the catch and Martin tagged up from third base and started toward home. De La Cruz tried to get rid of a quick throw, but fumbled the ball on the transfer. Martin scored easily on the foul pop and sacrifice fly to give the Snappers a 4-3 advantage.
Beloit tacked on a run in the sixth on a double play ball and added two more insurance runs on a two-run single by Persico in the eighth, but the Captains mounted a comeback in the bottom of the eighth. Down 7-3, Chu singled and Wakamatsu hit his second double of the day to put runners on second and third.
Despite the comeback effort, Lake County did not manage another run after De La Cruz's homer. In the ninth inning, Snappers reliever Yordys Alejo set the Captains down in order to nail down his first save of the year. Sawyer (3-2) earned the win for Beloit, pitching five innings and allowing three runs on four hits. Sawyer struck out three and walked a pair.
Martin, Persico and Mercedes paced the Beloit offense. Martin went 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. Persico drove home a team-high four runs on an RBI ground out, a sacrifice fly and a two-run single. Mercedes homered, doubled and scored twice.
Midwest League History
The Captains played the first seven seasons of their existence (2003-09) in the South Atlantic League before joining the Midwest League for the 2010 season. Lake County celebrated its first game in the Midwest League on April 8, 2010 at Classic Park with a walk-off victory over the West Michigan Whitecaps. That evening,
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.