Captains fall in extras despite Farhat’s clutch home run

(Eastlake, OH) – The Lake County Captains (37-32) fell 8-5 in 11 innings to the Great Lakes Loons (38-31) after tying the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on a Cody Farhat solo home run.

In the first inning four consecutive hits resulted in two runs for the Loons to go up 2-0, but outstanding defense by George Valera prevented more damage. Joe Vranesh singled sharply up the middle, then Brandon Lewis poked a soft line drive down the right field line. Valera cut the ball off in the corner and held Lewis to a single to put runners on the corners for the Loons. A double down the right field line from Andy Pages followed. Vranesh walked home to put the Loons on the board. Valera picked the ball up in the right field corner and uncorked a missile towards home plate. The throw beat Brandon Lewis trying to score from first, and Captains catcher Bryan Lavastida applied the tag for the second out of the inning. Another single off the bat of Carson Taylor drove in Pages from second for Great Lakes second run, but Valera almost cut down another Loons runner when his throw to the plate was just late and off line.

Deacon Liput extended the Loons’ lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth. With two outs and nobody aboard, Liput hit a solo homer off the roof of the batting cage building beyond the right field wall.

Valera put the Picantes on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Valera led off the inning with a laser home run over the batter’s eye in center field. The long ball was Valera’s sixth in his last 11 games and cut Great Lakes’ lead to 3-1.

Yet another Loons homer pushed the Loons’ lead back to three runs at 4-1. With one out and nobody on in the fifth, Brandon Lewis hit a solo shot to left off reliever Nathan Ocker.

Lavastida helped pull the Picantes back within two runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Captains’ catcher started a two-out rally with a single to left-center and José Tena followed with a single that moved Lavastida to third base. Lavastida later scored on a wild pitch to trim the Loons’ lead to 4-2. Aaron Bracho worked a walk to open the bottom of the seventh for the Captains. Then Cody Farhat ripped a single to left field. The ball snuck under the glove of Vranesh in left that allowed Bracho to advance to third and Farhat to scoot up to second. Will Brennan stepped to the plate and rolled a ground out to shortstop but Bracho scored to bring the Captains within one. With Farhat over to third on the play Brayan Rocchio stepped to the plate with one out. After two strikes on Rocchio, he lifted a high fly ball to left field that was deep enough to bring in Farhat and tie the score 4-4.

In the top of the ninth Ryan Ward tripled down the right field line for the Loons to lead off the inning. After a shallow pop out to center, Zac Ching ripped a single into left field for an RBI and to put the Loons in front, 5-4.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth Farhat belted a game tying solo home run to the left field bleachers to even the score 5-5 and send the game to extra innings.

In the top of the tenth inning with Joe Vranesh beginning the inning on second base, the Loons moved him to third with a sacrifice fly. But

Jerson Ramirez struck out Andy Pages for the second out. Then Carson Taylor drilled a high fly ball to center field that chased Brennan back to the wall. Brennan snatched the ball over his shoulder then crashed into the wall, holding the ball in his glove for the final out of the frame.

The Loons took the lead in the top of the 11th inning. Taylor began the inning on second base as the free runner and Ryan Ward led off with an RBI double to left field to put Great Lakes in front. Liput followed with a bunt single to put runners on the corners and a broken-bat ground out to third by Ching scored Ward to give the Loons a 7-5 lead. Two batters later, Justin Yurchak hit a soft bloop single to left that plated Liput to give Great Lakes an 8-5 advantage.

Braidyn Fink (1-4) took the win for the Loons. He worked 1.1 innings on the mound, with one walk and two strikeouts.

Kevin Kelly (1-2) took the loss for the Captains after allowing the three runs in the eleventh. Two of the runs were earned on three hits and one strikeout.

Mike Mokma (1) earned the save in the bottom of the eleventh for the Loons. He allowed one hit and struck out two.

Daniel Espino makes his Classic Park debut for the Captains on Friday. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. at Classic Park.

About the Captains

The Lake County Captains are the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. For more information, visit the Captains’ website at www.CaptainsBaseball.com, Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CaptainsBaseball, Twitter @LCCaptains and Instagram @LCCaptains. Fans can also get the latest Captains news and offers by signing up for the Captains’ newsletter, The Anchor.