Fundamentals fuel comeback, 10-inning win
(Midland, MI) - The first five innings looked grim for the Lake County Captains on Friday night, but a strong pitching performance by Brock Hartson kept Lake County in the game and an attention to detail yielded a comeback victory in 10 innings over the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond. Hartson tossed five shutout innings, while the Captains came from behind to force extra innings and ultimately prevailed in the series opener, 4-3.
Lake County trailed 3-0 at the end of the fifth when the comeback began. After Hartson came out of the bullpen and pitched a one-two-three inning, the Captains' offense went to work. Silento Sayles and Nathan Lukes hit back-to-back singles to start the inning off on a promising note, but the Loons caught a break when Willi Castro grounded into a double play. Sayles still scored on the twin-killing to cut the Captains' deficit to two runs and Tyler Krieger gave the Captains a lift following the double play when he scalded a line drive home run over the left field wall. Krieger's third homer extended his season-best hitting streak to 15 games and pulled the Captains within a run at 3-2.
Hartson kept dealing. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the right-hander stranded Cristian Gomez on third base and the Captains still trailed by only one run.
In the top of the eighth, Lake County used a combination of good fortune and situational hitting to tie the game. Francisco Mejia singled off of reliever Alex Hermeling with one out and Connor Marabell followed with a screaming line drive to left. Loons left fielder Ariel Sandoval froze on the liner and the ball tipped off of his glove for a two-base error. Mejia moved up to third on the play and Marabell landed on second. Yonathan Mendoza came up next and knew he did not need a hit to help the Captains' cause. He hit a ground ball to second base that scored Mejia and evened the score at 3-3.
Hartson came up big on the hill over the next two innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Great Lakes threatened to jump back in front when Edwin Rios hit a one-out double and Erick Meza worked a walk. Hartson struck out Omar Estevez for the second out and had Brant Whiting in a two-strike count with a chance to end the inning. Whiting, however, hit a hard line drive that was thankfully right at Captains first baseman Anthony Miller, who caught the liner to end the frame and preserve the tie.
Lake County's offense missed out on a golden opportunity to take the lead in the ninth, wasting a bases-loaded situation with one out, but Hartson danced out of his own trouble in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra frames. Hartson took care of the first two outs in the ninth with ease, but Nick Dean laced a double. Great Lakes had the winning run in scoring position, but Hartson fanned Gage Green to end the inning and push the game to the 10th.
The Captains played fundamental baseball in the 10th to score the game-deciding run. After Marabell smoked a leadoff double to left, Mendoza bunted him over to third base. Sam Haggerty came up next and hit a hard line drive right to Green in centerfield. Marabell scored easily on the sacrifice fly to give Lake County its first lead, 4-3.
Hartson closed things out in the 10th. Though he walked Meza with two outs, the right-hander got Estevez to pop out to right to end the game. Hartson (4-2) earned the victory and extended his scoreless innings streak to 15.1 innings. He has not allowed a run since May 19. He tossed five scoreless frames Friday evening and gave up three runs and two walks. Hartson set a career-high with six strikeouts.
Great Lakes scored all of its runs off of Captains starter Sam Hentges, though the left-hander still turned in a strong game over five innings. The Loons took the lead in the first when Sandoval hit a liner to center and Lukes' sliding attempt fell short, allowing the ball to skip to the wall for an RBI triple. Hentges walked Sandoval in the third and Rios followed with an RBI triple to give the Loons a 2-0 lead. Finally, in the fifth, Sandoval hit a solo homer to make it 3-0.
Despite leaving the game with his team trailing, Hentges stranded three runners in scoring position to keep the damage to a minimum. The left-hander also struck out the side in the fourth and fanned another pair in the fifth. He ended the day with six strikeouts.
Brian Bass took the loss for the Loons. Bass (1-1) only pitched the 10th and gave up the winning run. He finished with a line of one run, one hit, one walk and no strikeouts in his lone frame.
The Captains completed their seventh comeback win of the season and just their third win when trailing after seven innings. It was Lake County's first extra-innings victory on the road this season. The Captains will face the Loons again on Saturday night at Dow Diamond at 7:05 p.m. The game can be heard on AM 1330 WINT and CaptainsBaseball.com.
Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2016 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.