Captains rally late to knock off TinCaps 5-4

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Lake County Sentinel

Captains rally late to knock off TinCaps 5-4

BY TIM SHIRER

CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER

(EASTLAKE, OH) - On Tuesday night at Classic Park the Lake County Captains and Fort Wayne TinCaps played game two of their three game series. The Captains were trying to secure the series win as they had won the first game on Monday night 5-3. The Captains rallied late to clinch the series win with a run in the eighth inning to bring home the 5-4 win in front of the 1,168 in attendance.

The Captains got on the board quick in the first inning when Bo Naylor doubled to leadoff the inning. After Tyler Freeman flew out and Will Benson struck out Mitch Reeves homered over the left-center field wall giving the Captains an early 2-0 lead. The homer run was Reeves fourth of the season.

The TinCaps cut the lead in half in the second inning when the first two batters reached base. Captains starter Luis Oviedo issued a base on balls to Juan Fernandez and then he hit Nick Feight with the first pitch he threw to him putting runners on first and second base. After Oviedo struck out Lee Solomon, he issued another base on balls to Jawuan Harris to load the bases. Xavier Edwards then singled, and Fernandez scored the TinCaps first run. Oviedo was able to work his way out of trouble, retiring the final two batters to end the inning and preserving the Captains lead.

The Captains got the run back in the third inning when Connor Smith led off the inning with a single. Smith then stole second base. The theft was his first of the season. He then came home when Naylor doubled for the second time in the game.

Fort Wayne came all the way back in the fourth inning knocking Oviedo from the game and taking a 4-3 lead. The first three batters in the inning reached base, before Oviedo recorded and out. The first out of the inning was the last batter of the night for Oviedo, he was replaced by Kellen Rholl. Rholl’s entrance was not exactly smooth as he gave up two singles and threw a wild pitch allowing all the runners he inherited to score and give the one run lead to the TinCaps.

Lake County tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth inning when Will Benson singled, stole second base, his tenth of the year and then scored when Mitch Reeves scorched a line drive single between the third baseman and shortstop for the RBI.

The Captains took the lead for good in the eighth inning when Freeman tripled with one out. After Benson struck out, Jose Quezada intentionally walked Reeves to put men on the corners. Reeves then stole second base; it was his fourth steal of the season. One pitch later Quezada uncorked a wild pitch sending Freeman home with the winning run.

Zach Draper picked up the win in relief for Lake County. Draper pitched two shut out innings allowing one hit, issued one base on balls and struck out one TinCaps batter. With the win Draper improves to 2-0 with a 0.32 ERA. Quezada took the loss for Fort Wayne falling to 3-1 with a 2.29 ERA.

With the win the Captains are percentage points behind the Great Lakes Loons in first place in the Midwest League Eastern Division. Lake County is 21-15 with a .583 winning percentage. The Loons are 20-14 with a .588 winning percentage.

The Captains and TinCaps will complete the series on Wednesday morning at 11 a.m. Gabe Mosser will be on the mound for the TinCaps. Mosser, a righthander is 2-1 with a 3.16 ERA. Righty Cody Morris will tow the rubber for Lake County. Morris is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA.