Hidden ball trick seals fourth straight win

(Bowling Green, KY) - Angel Miguel pulled off the play of the year for the Lake County Captains and 5,277 fans at Bowling Green Ballpark missed it. With two outs in the ninth inning and the tying run on second for the Bowling Green Hot Rods, Miguel shocked everybody when he pulled off the hidden ball trick, tagging out Angel Moreno at second base for the final out of the game. The improbable last out sealed a 3-2 victory for Lake County on Independence Day.

The Captains led 3-2 going into the ninth, but Bowling Green threatened against Lake County closer Billy Strode. After Strode got Brandon Lowe to ground out to second base, Moreno hit a one out double to put the tying run on second. Strode then struck out Jake Croneworth to bring the Captains within one out of victory.

Michael Russell was due up after Croneworth, but the power-hitting third baseman never got to take a swing. After the strikeout, Miguel had the ball in his glove, unbeknownst to the Hot Rods. As Russell strode to the plate, Miguel waited with the ball in his glove, while Strode meandered behind the mound. Once Moreno took a couple of steps off of second, Miguel raced to him and tagged out the confused baserunner.

Nobody in the ballpark seemed to realize what had happened at first. Captains Manager Tony Mansolino emerged from the dugout and talked to the umpiring crew of Greg Roemer and Jose Matamoros. After a brief conversation between the umpires, Roemer signaled that Moreno was legally tagged out for the final out of the ballgame.

Miguel's trickery stole the thunder from the night's offensive hero, Connor Marabell. It was Marabell's bat that drove home all three Lake County runs in the club's fourth straight victory. After a Zacrey Law home run in the second inning gave Bowling Green the lead, Marabell tied the score with a sacrifice fly to score Ordomar Valdez in the top of the third. Marabell struck again to give the Captains the lead in the seventh.

Fernando Baez came in to pitch the seventh for Bowling Green, relieving the Hot Rods' knuckle-balling starter Taylor Hawkins. Bobby Ison got the rally started against Baez with a one-out single. Ison then stole second and Willi Castro worked his way aboard with a two-out walk. Marabell then roped a line drive double to the gap in left-centerfield, scoring both Ison and Castro to break a 1-1 tie and give the Captains a 3-1 lead.

Jared Robinson picked up the win on the mound for the Captains. Though he gave up a solo homer to Russell in the eighth that cut the Captains' lead to one run, Robinson (2-1) hung on for the win. The right-hander allowed one run over three innings and stranded Hot Rods on third base in both the sixth and the eighth. Billy Strode was on the mound for Lake County in the ninth and earned his fifth save.

Baez (0-1) suffered the loss for Bowling Green. The reliever only worked the seventh and was guilty of surrendering Marabell's go-ahead double. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out one.

The Captains will try to tie their season-high for consecutive wins when they face the Hot Rods again on Tuesday night at Bowling Green Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:35 PM ET.

Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). 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.