Captains Fall in Eleven Innings 8-6

(Eastlake, OH) - The Lakewood BlueClaws scored four runs in the top of the eleventh inning off Captains reliever Dallas Cawiezell, capped off by a three run home run by Michael Taylor as the BlueClaws defeated the Lake County Captains 8-6 in eleven innings on Thursday. The Captains battled back to score two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, but fell short.

The BlueClaws took the lead in the third inning when Derrick Mitchell hit a three run home run off Captains starter Joey Mahalic to give the Blueclaws a 3-0 lead. The Captains got on the board in the bottom of the third inning off Claws starter Drew Naylor when Matt Brown singled home Mark Thompson to cut the lead to 3-1. The Captains tied it in the bottom of the fourth inning when Doug Pickens and Matt Willard singled and they both scored when Thompson doubled to right field to make it 3-3.

The Captains took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning when Doug Pickens walked and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Willard and he scored on a double by Thompson, his fourth hit of the day. The BlueClaws forced extra innings scoring a run in the top of the ninth inning off Captains closer Vinnie Pestano on an RBI groundout by Mitchell. This was only Pestano's second blown save in fourteen tries.

Mahalic went seven innings and gave up three runs on seven hits, walking two and striking out five and did not get a decision. Gary Campfield relieved Mahalic in the eighth inning and pitched a scoreless inning. Pestano pitched the ninth inning and Dallas Cawiezell pitched the final two innings and picked up the loss to drop to 2-2. Jared Simon got the win to up his mark to 5-1.

Game three of the four game series is Friday at 7:05 PM as the Captains send LHP Kelvin De La Cruz (4-2, 1.57) to the mound against the BlueClaws LHP Jacob Diekman (1-3, 5.01). The game can also be heard on AM 1330 WELW, WELW.COM or CAPTAINSBASEBALL.COM.

Friday's game will feature a post-game fireworks extravaganza! On Saturday night at 7:05 PM, the Captains will close out the series and home stand against the BlueClaws. The first 1,500 fans will receive a Captains Team Wall Calendar, presented by Lake County Solid Waste District. Plus there will be a post-game fireworks extravaganza! Tickets for all Captains home games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467) or at captainsbaseball.com.

The Lake County Captains are a Class A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians and play their home games at Classic Park in Eastlake, at the corners of State Route 91 and Vine Street. For more information on the Captains, please visit the team's official website at www.captainsbaseball.com.