Great Lakes Blanks Lake County, Captains Five Game Win Streak Snapped

(MIDLAND, MI) - The Lake County Captains (72-50) stranded 10 runners on base and were held off the board by the Great Lakes Loons (74-50) who earned a narrow 1-0 win on an overcast Friday night at Dow Diamond.

West Michigan would drop their game at Parkview Field against Fort Wayne, so Lake County’s magic number is now at five.

Will Dion made his Captains debut and retired the first 11 he faced. The left-hander struck out three through the first three innings. After allowing his first base runner in the fourth via a walk, Dion picked him off first to end the inning. The 2021 Ninth Round Pick’s best inning was the fifth, where on 14 pitches he struck out the side.

The first five innings offensively for Lake County, they forced 20+ pitches in each frame. The Loons River Ryan allowed two walks in the first two innings, but also struck out four. In the fifth, in the third inning against Ben Casparius the Captains put two on, but stranded both following a strikeout.

The Loons gained their first hit, a single in the sixth. With two outs, came another single to centerfield. The runner from first trying to go to third was thrown out by Petey Halpin to close the inning.

A run was scored in the seventh by Great Lakes. Eddys Leonard, blasted a solo shot over the left field fence, to make it 1-0. Dion would finish strong completing 6.2 innings with a ninth strikeout.

Jack DeGroat got a strikeout to end the seventh, and after three walks in the eighth, Davis Sharpe earned a punchout to close the eighth.

In the top of the eighth, Joe Naranjo skied a ball into left field to begin the inning. Despite being under the ball it was dropped by the Loons left fielder, and Naranjo would reach third. The runner 90 feet away was not plated after two flyouts and a groundout.

In the ninth, despite forcing two full counts Micael Ramirez and Cesar Idrogo went down on strikes. Yordys Valdes kept the game alive with his third single of the game. A fielders choice ended the game, and Lake County in the final four innings left six on.

Game five in the six-game set is tomorrow Saturday, September 3rd. The Captains and Loons will do battle with first pitch at 7:05 p.m.

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