Captains Patience Pays Off, 10 Walks in 8-1 Victory
(MIDLAND, MI) - The Lake County Captains (70-49) capitalized on two errors, and worked ten base on bases taking an 8-1 win over the Great Lake Loons (73-48) on a 75-degree partly cloudy Tuesday at Dow Diamond. The Captains posted five runs in the eighth inning and stayed three games
(MIDLAND, MI) - The Lake County Captains (70-49) capitalized on two errors, and worked ten base on bases taking an 8-1 win over the Great Lake Loons (73-48) on a 75-degree partly cloudy Tuesday at Dow Diamond.
The Captains posted five runs in the eighth inning and stayed three games ahead over the West Michigan Whitecaps in the Midwest League East Second Half Standings.
Jack Leftwich had a dominant start. The right-hander went six innings, striking out nine, and retired the final nine batters he faced. It was the fourth of nine starts where the 2021 Seventh Round Pick completed six.
Lake County scored the game’s first in the second inning. Christian Cairo was hit by a pitch, stole second, and was plated after a throwing error from the Loons third baseman.
After three scoreless innings from Great Lakes starter Kendall Williams, the Captains took a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Lake County got back-to-back singles from Milan Tolentino and Joe Naranjo. With one out, Alexfri Planez plated Tolentino with a sacrifice fly.
The Captains would then tack on six runs off the Loons bullpen. In the seventh, Connor Kokx walked, moved to second on a wild pitch, and stole third. He came across the plate on a double play groundout to make it 3-1.
A five-run eighth distanced Lake County. Joe Naranjo started it off with a solo home run, a 366-foot blast, his 17th of the season and fifth against Great Lakes. With two on and two outs, Connor Kokx grounded a ball to third and another throwing error helped both runners score. A wild pitch and four consecutive walks furthered the damage.
Davis Sharpe, Jordan Jones, and Elvis Jerez all threw a scoreless inning in relief. Jones made his first appearance since returning to Lake County from Akron and threw 13 pitches, 11 strikes.
The Captains and Loons are back in action tomorrow Wednesday, August 31st. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m., with Lake County looking to complete their August with a win, they are 19-6 in the month.
Coverage of the game can be found on WJCU.org/Captains and the MiLB First Pitch app.