Captains swept by Loons to end road trip

(Midland, MI) - The Lake County Captains (24-23, 64-52) were swept in a three-game series by the Great Lakes Loons (29-18, 72-42) at Dow Diamond after falling in the series finale on Friday night, 6-5.

Captains starter Eli Lingos limited the Loons' offense to just two runs over five innings, both of which came on one swing in the first inning. After Lingos walked Luke Heyer with two outs, Romer Cuadrado lifted a fly ball that carried over the right field wall for a two-run home run to give the Loons a 2-0 lead.
Great Lakes maintained its lead until the fifth, when the Captains rallied to tie the score. Billy Wilson put the Captains on the board when he homered to right with one out against Loons reliever Zach Willeman. Jose Fermin and Clark Scolamiero followed with back-to-back singles. On Scolamiero's single, Fermin advanced to third and Scolamiero took second when the throw from the outfield went to third. Jonathan Engelmann then hit a sacrifice fly to right field that brought home Fermin with the tying run.
Great Lakes regained the lead in the sixth. Facing lefty reliever Kellen Rholl , Heyer worked a leadoff walk and Cuadrado followed with a double to put men on second and third with nobody out. Chris Roller knocked in Heyer with a ground out to second to put the Loons in front, 3-2. An RBI fielder's choice by Justin Yurchak scored Cuadrado to push the Loons' advantage to 4-2.
The Loons added two more crucial runs in the eighth. Roller led off with a double off of reliever Brendan Meyer . A balk moved Roller to third with one out, but a splendid play by third baseman Connor Smith cut down Roller at home. Jair Camargo bounced a ball along the third base line. Smith gloved the ball on the line and heaved a toss over Roller to catcher Bo Naylor for the tag out. Meyer, however threw a wild pitch that moved Camargo to second and walked Tre Todd. Dan Robinson then roped a two-run triple off the right field wall to stretch the Loons' lead to 6-2.
Lake County mounted a ninth-inning comeback, but fell one run shy of tying the game. Lefty Justin Bruihl began the frame on the hill and Josh Rolette led off with a single. Fermin reached with one out on an error by Camargo at third and the Loons called on right-hander Joel Inoa to relieve Bruihl. Scolamiero faced Inoa and greeted the reliever with a three-run home run to right, pulling the Captains within a run. Inoa, however, got Engelmann to bounce out to second and struck out Naylor to end the game.
The loss marked just the second time the Captains have been swept this season. The only other sweep Lake County has suffered this year was against the Quad Cities River Bandits from April 30 to May 2.
The Captains have also played mostly one-run games in August. Through nine games this month, Lake County has had six games decided by one run. The Captains are 2-4 in those contests.
Willeman (3-4) earned the win for Great Lakes. The right-hander pitched 4.2 innings and allowed two runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked two. Inoa's efforts in the ninth gave him his fourth save.
Rholl (1-4) took the loss. The lefty allowed two runs on two hits with one walk and no strikeouts in his one inning on the bump.
The Captains return home on Saturday to begin a three-game series against the West Michigan Whitecaps. It is the start of six home games across seven days, with a day off in between series against West Michigan and the South Bend Cubs. Game one against West Michigan is scheduled for Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. at Classic Park.
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.