‘Caps Hang on to Take Series from Loons
MIDLAND, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps opened their Sunday matinee with a pair of big innings and got enough big pitches from their closer to find an 8-6 win over the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond to take two out of three games against the first-place Loons to
MIDLAND, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps opened their Sunday matinee with a pair of big innings and got enough big pitches from their closer to find an 8-6 win over the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond to take two out of three games against the first-place Loons to win the shortened series.
The win gives West Michigan a series victory against Great Lakes for the first time this season, taking two out of three contests while dealing the Loons a series defeat for the first time since June 16-21 when the Loons dropped three of five to the Lake County Captains in Midland.
Sunday’s scoring came early and often for the Whitecaps, when first baseman Clayton Campbell drilled a run-scoring single to give West Michigan a 1-0 lead. After an RBI double by Samuel Gil, outfielder Stephen Hrustich brought home a pair with a two-run double through a drawn-in infield to give the ‘Caps a four-run first and 4-0 lead. West Michigan took a familiar route to post a second-straight four-run stanza in the second when Campbell delivered two more runs with a single, while Hrustich plated two more with his second two-bagger in as many innings to bring the Whitecaps lead to 8-0. Meanwhile, West Michigan pitchers Zack Lee and Ryan Harvey shut down Loons hitters with five scoreless frames to open the contest. The Loons got their first runs when Emil Morales delivered a two-run single in the sixth to bring the ‘Caps lead to 8-2, and then a bases-clearing three-run double by Chuck Davalan trimmed the West Michigan lead to 8-5 as the Loons struck for six runs between the sixth and seventh innings. Then it was reliever Preston Howey who took the ‘Caps to the finish line, recording the final seven outs to take the ‘Caps to the series victory.
The Whitecaps improve to 14-10 in the second half and 38-50 overall, while the Loons record drops to 16-7 in the back half of 2026, with their lead in the Midwest League Eastern Division falling to 2.5 games over West Michigan, and 52-35 overall. Harvey (3-3) soared through two perfect innings and was credited with his third win of the season, while Loons starter Jakob Wright (4-4) gave up seven runs in just 1.1 innings while walking five ‘Caps hitters in suffering his fourth loss of the year. At the plate, Campbell and Hrustich led the way with a combined five hits and seven runs batted in.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps head to Dozer Park for a six-game series against the Peoria Chiefs on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 7:35pm. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 7:20pm on ‘The Ticket West Michigan’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.