Torkelson blasts Whitecaps past Captains

(Comstock Park, MI) – The Lake County Captains (11-12) could not keep up with two three-run home runs from Spencer Torkelson for the West Michigan Whitecaps (13-9) in a 17-5 loss on Saturday from LMCU Ballpark.

The Captains jumped on the scoreboard in the top of the second inning. Ray Delgado walked to open the inning followed by a single by Jonathan Engelmann. When Whitecaps center fielder Daniel Cabrera bobbled the ball Delgado raced to third base and Engelmann advanced to second. With Victor Nova at the plate, Delgado wandered too far off third and got picked off by Whitecaps’ catcher Dillon Dingler. Nova walked and moved to second with Engelmann moving to third a balk from Whitecaps starter Chavez Fernander. Mike Amditis grounded out to third base but Engelmann scored and Nova scampered to third. With two outs Austen Wade looped a soft single to left field that drove home Nova and made the score 2-0 Captains.

West Michigan answered in the bottom of the second inning. Rey Rivera led off with a walk and Corey Joyce reached on catcher's inference. With one out Jose King singled to load the bases. Eric de la Rosa came to the plate and rolled a double inches fair down the left field line. Nova bobbled the ball in left allowing King to score all the way from first and give West Michigan a 3-2 advantage.

In the bottom of the third inning the Whitecaps registered another tally. Cabrera singled and moved all the way to third base on an errant pick-off throw from Captains’ starter Matt Turner. He came home to score on a sacrifice fly by Andre Lipcius to make the score 4-2, Whitecaps.

The Captains came back to take the lead in the fifth. Lake County scored three runs on three hits, three walks and one hit batter to jump in front, 5-4. Will Brennan began the rally with a one-out single and then stole second base. Brayan Rocchio then rolled a single through the right side to score Brennan and pull the Captains within one run at 4-3. Following the Rocchio single, Sam Kessler came in to relieve Xavier Javier. José Tena immediately worked a four-pitch walk and Aaron Bracho ripped a 2-0 pitch down the right field line for a double. After Raynel Delgado walked to load the bases, Kessler hit Jonathan Engelmann to score Tena with the game-tying run. Kessler then walked Nova to give the Captains a 5-4 lead, as Bracho scored on the bases-loaded walk.

The Whitecaps fought back in the home half of the sixth inning. Trevin Esquerra led off the inning with a single. With one out de la Rosa walked to put two runners on with one out. Torkelson came to the plate and unloaded a 440-foot home run to left-center field to give the Whitecaps a 7-5 lead.

West Michigan added insurance in the eighth. A leadoff double by Andre Lipcius got the inning started. He moved to third base on a wild pitch. Rey Rivera walked and with runners on the corners another wild pitch brought home Lipcius. Against Captains’ reliever Kellen Rholl, Corey Joyce walked, and Trevin Esquerra was hit by a pitch to load the bases. King also got hit by a pitch to score the second run of the inning. With the bases still loaded de la Rosa singled to left field to drive home Joyce and make the score 10-5 Whitecaps and end Rholl’s outing.

Nick Gallagher came out of the bullpen for the Captains and struck out Torkelson for the first out of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Cabrera lined a line drive to the left-center gap that cleared the bases to extend the Whitecaps lead to 13-5. West Michigan added another run with a walk to Dingler and a single from Lipcius to score Cabrera and make the score 14-5.

With Captains catcher Gianpaul Gonzalez taking the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning, two-runners reached in front of Torkelson who launched his second home run of the night to left field to make it 17-5, Whitecaps.

Tim Herrin (0-2) worked 2.1 innings and took the loss for the Captains. He allowed five runs on three hits out of the bullpen. Herrin struck out one and walked two.

Brendan White (1-0) earned the win for the Whitecaps. He worked 2.1 scoreless innings without allowing a baserunner and striking out two.

Right-hander Mason Hickman gets the start for the Captains in the finale of the six-game series on Sunday. First pitch at LMCU Ballpark is set for 2:05 p.m.

About the Captains

The Lake County Captains are the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. For more information, visit the Captains’ website at www.CaptainsBaseball.com, Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CaptainsBaseball, Twitter @LCCaptains and Instagram @LCCaptains. Fans can also get the latest Captains news and offers by signing up for the Captains’ newsletter, The Anchor.