(Midland, MI) - The Lake County Captains (24-22, 64-51) carried a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth on Thursday night, but suffered a walk-off loss to the Great Lakes Loons (28-18, 71-42) at Dow Diamond. Leonel Valera tied the game with an RBI single and Luke Heyer lifted
(Midland, MI) - The Lake County Captains (24-22, 64-51) carried a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth on Thursday night, but suffered a walk-off loss to the Great Lakes Loons (28-18, 71-42) at Dow Diamond. Leonel Valera tied the game with an RBI single and Luke Heyer lifted the Loons to a 5-4 win with a walk-off double.
Ethan Hankins , one of the Cleveland Indians' 2018 first round picks (35th overall), made his Captains debut and got off to a rocky start in the first. Hankins walked James Outman to lead off the inning. Outman then stole second and scampered to third when the throw from catcher Bo Naylor , the Indians' other first round pick last year (29th overall), skipped into centerfield. With one out, Heyer lifted a fly ball to shallow right-centerfield and Billy Wilson made a diving catch to rob a hit. Outman tagged up from third and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Loons a 1-0 lead. Hankins walked two more in the inning and also hit a batter, but stranded the bases loaded.
Miguel Jerez tied the score with one swing in the second. With one out and nobody aboard, Jerez hit a solo homer to left field to even the score at 1-1.
Hankins' day ended after four innings. The right-hander allowed one run on one hit, but issued five walks and hit one batter. Hankins struck out three in his Lake County debut.
The Captains used small ball in the fifth to rally and take the lead. Daniel Schneemann bunted his way aboard to begin the inning, Loons starter Robinson Ortiz walked Connor Smith and Wilson hit a bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. Ortiz then walked Ike Freeman to force home Schneemann with the go-ahead run. Quentin Holmes followed and hit a grounder to third for a force out, but Smith scored and Ortiz balked Freeman home to stretch the Captains' lead to 4-1.
After Hankins' exit, Heyer connected with a big home run against Captains reliever Skylar Arias . After Arias walked Leonel Valera, Heyer hit a two-run homer to centerfield to pull the Loons within one run.
Lake County took a 4-3 lead into the ninth, but Great Lakes came back to win the game. Reliever Kyle Marman walked James Outman with one out and then balked the runner to second base. Valera followed with an RBI single to center that tied the game and he moved to second when the throw came home. Heyer came up next and roped a line drive over Wilson's head in right for a double that scored Valera with the winning run.
Marman (4-3) suffered the loss and a blown save. He pitched 2.1 innings and allowed two runs on two hits with one strikeout and two walks.
Loons reliever Mark Washington pitched two scoreless innings for the win. Washington (3-1) allowed one hit, walked one and struck out two.
The Captains will try to avoid being swept in the three-game series on Friday. First pitch for the series finale is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Dow Diamond.
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.
