Captains Push Past TinCaps, Behind Three-Run Eighth Inning

(EASTLAKE, OH) - The Lake County Captains (74-52) tacked on three hits and three walks in a three-run eighth to take a one-run victory 3-2 over the Fort Wayne TinCaps (49-78) on a cool and sunny Wednesday afternoon at Classic Park.

Lake County has a 1.5-game lead over the West Michigan Whitecaps. The Whitecaps play the Loons at LMCU Ballpark tonight, with the first pitch at 6:35 p.m.

Will Dion made his Classic Park debut and dominated over six shutout innings. The left-hander struck out six, including three of his last five faced, and only permitted three hits. The TinCaps left four on base through Dion’s outing. The 2021 Ninth Round Pick had a second-straight start with a pickoff, taking Charlis Aquino off first base in the third.

Fort Wayne’s starter Efrain Contreras delivered his best performance of 2022. He finished six innings with six strikeouts. Milan Tolentino had two of the four hits that Contreras allowed. The 20-year-old stole second twice but was stranded in scoring position in both the fourth and sixth inning.

The TinCaps broke the scoring drought, with a two-run homer from Justin Diaz. Diaz launched his second homer of the series and third in six games played in High-A. Jordan Jones completed the inning with a strikeout.

The Captains in the bottom of the seventh got back-to-back walks from Korey Holland and Connor Kokx. After two outs were recorded, Yordys Valdes faced debuting Miguel Mendez. Valdes swung at the first pitch and lined the ball to deep right, it was caught by Agustin Ruiz following a leaping grab at the wall, which ended the inning.

Lake County would break through and take the lead in the eighth. Christian Cairo began the inning with a single. Joe Naranjo and Alexfri Planez then walked to load the bases. Korey Holland rifled a ball off the outstretched glove of the TinCaps third baseman and into left field for an RBI single.

After a strikeout to bring it to two outs, Mike Amditis stepped up for the first time on the day. He came through in a big way, looping a 2-1 pitch into left field to make it a 3-2 Captains lead. Fort Wayne’s Mendez and Luke Boyd combined for 44 pitches and faced nine Lake County batters.

Raymond Burgos worked a 1-2-3 eighth and remained in for the ninth. The left-hander had no trouble in the ninth, ending the game with his third strikeout.

The Captains and TinCaps will play their next three games at 6:35 p.m. Tomorrow Thursday, September 8th will be the first. It will be Thirsty Thursday, where fans can enjoy half-priced Modelos until 9 p.m.

Coverage of the game can be found on WJCU.org/Captains and the MiLB First Pitch app.