Coulter’s career start brings series opening win to Lake County

(Eastlake, OH) – Kevin Coulter tossed a career long six innings on the mound for the Lake County Captains (62-53) in a 8-2 win over the Beloit Snappers (53-62) on Tuesday night at Classic Park.

Beloit scored the first run of the game before an out was recorded in the first inning. JD Orr walked to lead off the game. Victor Victor Mesa ripped a single through the left side of the infield, then Connor Scott smacked a single up the middle that drove in Orr and gave Beloit a 1-0 lead.

The Captains quickly tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first. Christian Cairo led off with a double that fell in no man’s land down the right field line. Cairo advanced to third on a José Tena groundout and came home to score when Jhonkensy Noel grounded out to third base.

Lake County broke the tie in the second. Micah Pries walked, Mike Amditis reached on an error and Aaron Bracho drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Julian Escobedo drove in the tie-breaking run with a chopping ground ball to first base. Beloit first baseman Troy Johnston made the play and threw to second base, forcing out Bracho but Pries scored from first to put Lake County ahead 2-1. With runners on the corners Cairo lifted a fly ball to right-center that should have been caught but dropped between Victor Victor Mesa in center and Connor Scott in right when they both backed off the ball. Cairo reached second with a double and Amditis scored with Escobedo reaching third base. Lake County had runners on the corners with one out and a wild pitch brough Escobedo across the plate to give the Captains a 4-1 lead.

Beloit got one run back in the top of the sixth. With two outs and nobody on, Jan Mercado hit a line drive home run over the right field wall to cut the Captains’ lead to 4-2.

Back-to-back homers against reliever Raul Brito ballooned the Captains’ lead to 8-2 in the sixth. Pries rocked a three-run shot to dead center field and Amditis followed with a solo shot over the right field wall on the next pitch.

Coulter (9-4) earned the win for Lake County with his career best six innings on the mound. He allowed two runs on eight hits with seven strikeouts.

Josh Simpson (0-2) took the loss after allowing four runs over five innings. Three of the runs were earned on three hits and three walks. Simpson struck out a career best nine in the loss.

T**anner Burns** is scheduled to start game two of the six game series for the Captains on Wednesday. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.

A**bout 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.