Whitecaps Win on Wild Pitch

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. – On a night riddled with errors, wild pitches, and hit by pitches, the West Michigan Whitecaps spoiled what would have been one of the largest comebacks in Great Lakes Loons franchise history earning a walk-off win on a wild pitch in the ninth inning.

West Michigan took advantage of early Loons mistakes and scored seven runs in the first three innings on Wednesday night. The seven runs were tallied on just two ‘Caps hits and were aided by two Loons errors, five walks, and two HBPs.

The Loons did not pack it in after trailing 7-0 after three innings… Instead, they scored a pair of runs in each the fifth and eighth innings. Ryan Ward and Joe Vranesh each hit solo home runs in the fifth and an RBI-double by Miguel Vargas and an RBI-groundout from Deacon Liput gave the Loons a chance going to the ninth.

Righty Ruben Garcia took the ball for West Michigan looking to defend a three-run lead. Garcia proceeded to not record an out against the first four batters he faced before being pulled from the game after allowing one run on an Andy Pages RBI-single. Yaya Chentouf (W, 2-0) entered with the bases loaded and no outs and hit the first batter he faced to pull the Loons within a run. The Loons would later take the lead on consecutive two-out errors by WM middle infielders Corey Joyce and Andre Lipcius. It was 8-7 Loons going to the bottom of the ninth.

After delivering a 1-2-3 eighth inning, Morgan Cooper (L,0-1) returned to the hill for Great Lakes. The former 2nd-round-pick allowed West Michigan to tie the game on a Daniel Cabrera run-scoring double. Cooper was then pulled from the game with two outs and the winning run on third base for the Whitecaps. Andrew Shaps entered for Loons Manager Austin Chubb and walked Rey Rivera before a wild pitch in the first offering to Kona Quiggle allowed Cabrera to score and grant the home team a walk-off winner, 9-8.

With the series now split at a game apiece, the Loons (2-6) and Whitecaps (3-4) will play game three on Thursday with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. EDT.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.