Captains Reach New Territory, Now Winners of Five Straight

(PEORIA, IL) – The Lake County Captains (23-20) are on a season-high five game winning streak defeating the Peoria Chiefs (17-27), 4-1 on a beautiful Saturday evening at Dozer Park.

Doug Nikhazy earned his longest outing of the 2022 season. The left-hander struck out three through the first three innings and allowed only one base runner. The only trouble Nikhazy ran into was in the fifth. With two on and two out, Nikhazy put in a hard fought battle but issued his fourth walk of the game to load the bases. Nathan Ocker entered and forced a flyout to left field to end the threat and protect the 2-0 lead.

The Captains who got that lead after a four-hit two-run top of the fourth. Alexfri Planez led off the inning with a base hit, his second of the game. Christian Cairo then shot a ball down the right field line that worked into the corner after a misplay, scoring Planez and allowing Cairo to reach third.

Next up was Raynel Delgado, who chopped a ball up the middle and into center field to plate Cairo. Delgado tried to be run number three of the frame but was tagged out at home trying to score on a Connor Kokx double.

Peoria cut into the lead in the sixth, after a leadoff homer from Todd Lott. The Lake County bullpen would not permit another hit. Ocker finished the sixth, Raymond Burgos tossed a 10 pitch 1-2-3 seventh, and Randy Labaut recorded six outs forcing two double plays to cap off the game.

Lake County did provide additional runs in the seventh and ninth. Jhonkensy Noel lasered an RBI single in the seventh and in the ninth Noel grounded a ball down the third base line in between the legs of Ramon Mendoza at third, scoring Micael Ramirez to make the score 4-1.

The Peoria Chiefs have now lost their last seven home games in a row.

The Lake County Captains look for their first sweep of 2022, as they finish their season series with the Peoria Chiefs tomorrow Sunday, May 29th. First pitch is at 7:35 p.m EST.

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