Loons' arms handcuff Captains

(Midland, MI) - The Great Lakes Loons (21-39) used four pitchers to keep the Lake County Captains' (25-37) bats quiet on Saturday night at Dow Diamond. Andre Jackson, Dan Jagiello, James Carter and Aneurys Zabala combined to hold the Captains to one run on six hits in game two of the four-game series. The Captains lost their second straight game to Great Lakes, 4-1.
Lake County had four big opportunities, but could not cash in. The Captains loaded the bases with two outs in the first, but Jackson got Jose Medina to bounce out to shortstop. In the third, Jackson walked back-to-back men with one out, but got Jonathan Laureano to ground out to shortstop for the first out. With runners on second and third, Medina flied out to right. Two innings later, Carter walked Nolan Jones , Oscar Gonzalez singled and Will Benson walked to load the bases. Laureano then hit into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

The Captains' final shot came in the ninth and Lake County's rally was anything but conventional. With Ulysses Cantu leading off, base umpire Jon Thompson ejected Captains Bench Coach Kyle Hudson. After Cantu struck out, Jesse Berardi started the rally with a single to left field. Todd Isaacs was due up next, but before he stepped to the plate, Berardi was awarded third base on a strange play.
Zabala, who was under the assumption that time was out, wanted a new baseball and tossed the old one into his dugout. Time was never signaled, however by the umpiring crew, and thus, the result was a two-base throwing error that put Berardi 90 feet from home.
Isaacs fanned for the second out, but Tyler Friis came through with a line drive RBI single to left field that brought home Berardi. Jones followed with a hard ground ball through the right side to put runners on first and second and bring Gonzalez up as the tying run. Zabala, however, got Gonzalez to bounce to shortstop and the Loons forced out Jones at second to end the game.
Great Lakes' offense scored early against Captains starter Zack Draper . After the lefty retired the first two batters, he lost the strike zone. Draper issued a four-pitch walk to Romer Cuadrado and then fell behind Carlos Rincon with two straight balls. On the 2-0 pitch, Rincon golfed a two-run homer over the left field wall to open the scoring.
The Loons added a run in the third. Brayan Morales led off with a searing grounder to third base. Jones managed to glove the missile, but was practically knocked over by the force of the shot and bobbled the ball as he got to his feet. Morales reached on the infield hit and moved to third when Brandon Montgomery singled. Draper then threw a wild pitch to score Morales and give the Loons a 3-0 lead.
Morales had a hand in the Loons' final run, as well. In the eighth, Captains right-hander Nick Gallagher walked Mitchell Hansen to begin the inning. Hansen later swiped second base for his second steal of the game. With two outs, Morales blooped a soft fly ball that dunked down the right field line for an RBI single.
Carter (1-0) picked up the win in relief for Great Lakes. The right-hander pitched two perfect innings in the sixth and seventh. He struck out two of the six men he faced.
Draper (0-1) took the loss for Lake County. In his second start of the year, the lefty allowed three runs on six hits over five innings. He walked one and struck out one.
The Captains have lost each of their last five meetings with Great Lakes and will try to end that streak on Sunday afternoon in game three of the series. First pitch at Dow Diamond is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
Information about Classic Park or the Captains can be found online at www.captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-<st1:stockticker w:st="on">WINS (9467). Affordable ticket packages and group party and picnic options are available now.