Picantes take opener at West Michigan

(Comstock Park, MI) - The Picantes de Lake County (28-26, 68-55) rode a two-out, fifth-inning rally to win the opening game of a four-game series against the Calaveras de West Michigan (19-35, 40-83) at Fifth Third Ballpark. The four-run outburst led Lake County to a 6-3 victory on Saturday night.
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Clark Scolamiero wasted no time putting the Picantes on the board. On the first pitch of the ballgame from Calaveras starter Brad Bass, Scolamiero cranked a home run to right field. Scolamiero's third homer in four games gave Lake County a 1-0 lead.
The Picantes carried their lead into the fourth, but West Michigan came back that inning to take the lead. The Calaveras hit back-to-back doubles to begin the frame. Andre Lipcius led off with a two-base hit and Dayton Dugas doubled him home. Later in the inning, Wenceel Perez singled in Dugas to put the Calaveras in front, 2-1.
Bass settled down after Scolamiero's homer and did not give up another hit until the fifth. After the right-hander retired the first two men in the fifth, Ulysses Cantu roped a single and Bass followed with two straight walks to Josh Rolette and Scolamiero to load the bases. The Calaveras made a call to the bullpen, bringing in Jose Vasquez to try to escape the jam, but Vasquez walked Jose Fermin with the bases loaded. Cantu came home from third to score the tying run, but the rally was not finished. Jonathan Engelmann came up next and singled home two more runs to put Lake County back in front, 4-2. An RBI single by Bo Naylor made it 5-2. Six straight Picantes reached base with two outs to give Lake County the lead again.
West Michigan got a run back in the seventh inning with a two-out rally of its own. After reliever Brendan Meyer retired the first two hitters in the frame, Bryant Packard worked a walk and Andre Lipcius singled, sending Packard to third. A wild pitch then scored Packard to cut the Picantes' lead to 5-3.
Lake County tallied an insurance run in the top of the ninth, again striking with two outs. Quentin Holmes pulled a double down the left field line against reliever Angel Reyes and Raynel Delgado punched a single to right field to score Holmes and stretch the Picantes' lead to 6-3.
Kellen Rholl picked up the win in relief for Lake County. Rholl (3-4) held the Calaveras scoreless over two innings. He struck out four, walked one and surrendered two hits. Jake Miednik earned his third save with two scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth.
Bass (4-4) took the loss for West Michigan. The right-hander gave up four runs on two hits and three walks over 4.2 innings. Bass registered two strikeouts in the losing effort.
Lake County and West Michigan play game two of their four-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch at Fifth Third Ballpark is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
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.