Captains come up short in regular season finale

(Eastlake, OH) – The Lake County Captains (65-55) lost 5-3 on Sunday afternoon to the Beloit Snappers (55-65), falling just short of reaching the High-A Central playoffs.

Beloit jumped in front in the top of the first inning. With two outs Connor Scott looped a single into shallow center. He stole second base to get into scoring position for Bennett Hostetler. There were two strikes on Hostetler but he muscled a single into right field to drive in Scott and put Beloit on the scoreboard. The throw home got away from Lake County catcher Mike Amditis, allowing Hostetler to reach second. Troy Johnston collected another soft single with a slow grounder through the right side of the infield that drove in Hostetler to put Beloit on top 2-0.

The Snappers added to their lead in the sixth. Scott and Hostetler began the inning with singles against Captains’ starter Mason Hickman. Lake County made a call to the bullpen and brought in Kevin Kelly, but after Hostetler stole second, Johnston lined a single into left-center to score a pair and give Beloit a 4-0 lead. David Martinez followed with an RBI double into the right field corner that scored Johnston to make it 5-0.

The Captains got back in the game with a sixth-inning rally. José Tena led off with an infield single up the first base line. With two outs, Johnathan Rodríguez singled to center and Joe Naranjo followed with a single up the middle that scored Tena. The RBI knock cut Beloit’s lead to 5-1. After Snappers starter George Soriano walked Raynel Delgado to load the bases, Jackson Rose came in from the bullpen. Amditis then roped a 2-2 pitch up the middle. Rodríguez and Narajo scored to pull the Captains within two runs at 5-3.

Trailing by two entering the bottom of the ninth, the Captains loaded the bases with nobody out, but Tena struck out and Jhonkensy Noel grounded into a double play to end the game.

George Soriano (4-1) earned the win with 5.2 innings worked for Beloit. He allowed three runs on eight hits, one walk and five strikeouts.

M**ason Hickman** (8-8) took the loss for Lake County. He allowed four runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

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.