Captains open road trip with third straight win

(Beloit, WI) - After allowing a run in the opening inning, the Lake County Captains (17-13) answered with nine unanswered runs to win their third straight game and take game one of their six-game road trip. The Captains defeated the Beloit Snappers (9-18) on Monday night at Pohlman Field, 9-1.

Beloit tallied the series' first run just three batters into the ballgame. Lester Madden led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Ryan Gridley fouled a 3-2 pitch off his foot, but responded with a bloop double down the right field line to plate Madden and give the Snappers a 1-0 lead.
Lake County bounced back to tie the game in the third. Bo Naylor hit a one-out single and Will Benson knotted the score with a two-out, ringing double over the head of right fielder Nick Osborne. Naylor scored all the way from first to even the score at 1-1.
The Captains took the lead in the fourth inning, thanks to a two-out rally. After Snappers starter Bryce Conley struck out the first two men in the inning, Jesse Berardi singled to keep the frame alive. Hosea Nelson followed with a bouncing ball to first that glanced off the leaping glove of Noah Vaughan and rolled into shallow right field. Berardi hustled home from second to give the Captains the lead and Daniel Schneemann singled to left-center to score Nelson and make it 3-1.
In the fifth, another two-out rally gave the Captains an insurance tally, albeit after a strange double play. With Mitch Reeves on first and nobody out, Ruben Cardenas hit a pop up in foul ground outside of first. Vaughan made an over-the-shoulder catch and Reeves tagged up from first. Vaughan threw behind Reeves to Adam Reuss, the pitcher, on the first base bag. Reuss chased down Reeves for a double play. However, Reuss then hit Miguel Jerez with a pitch and Berardi hit a tailing double into the left field corner to score Jerez from first and extend the Captains' lead to 4-1.
The Captains pulled away in the eighth with a five-run frame against Reuss. Schneemann singled with one out and left fielder Logan Farrar misplayed a fly ball by Naylor. Schneemann scored as the ball rolled to the wall and Naylor reached second on the error. Tyler Freeman came up next and hit a sharp line drive to shallow left-centerfield. Naylor scored and Freeman raced to second for a hustle-double. After Reeves worked a two-out walk, Cardenas slammed a ball to the right-centerfield gap. Freeman and Reeves both scored, as Cardenas sprinted to third for a two-run triple. He then scored on a wild pitch to give the Captains a 9-1 lead.
Shane McCarthy picked up the win for Lake County. The right-hander rebounded from allowing the early run and pitched five innings, allowing just one run on three hits. McCarthy (3-2) struck out five and walked two.
Conley (0-3) suffered the loss for Beloit. The Snappers' starter pitched four innings and was responsible for three runs, one earned, on six hits. He struck out three and walked two.
Three Captains turned in multi-hit performances on Monday, led by Berardi, who picked up his second three-hit game in his last three contests. Berardi went 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run. Reeves went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run. Schneemann finished 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored. Meanwhile, Cardenas tripled for the second game in a row and the third time in his last four games.
The Captains have won three straight games and play game two of their three-game series in Beloit on Tuesday with a matinee. First pitch is scheduled for noon ET at Pohlman Field.
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.