Lake County Sentinel
Cubs score late and top Captains 5-3
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
The Lake County Captains won on a late grand slam on by Li-Jen Chu to propel them to a 5-3 victory over the visiting South Bend Cubs on Saturday night. The team was hoping to continue the momentum on Sunday afternoon as they played the final game of their three-game series. Things as has been the case a lot in 2017 did not go as the Captains the 1,858 fans in attendance had hoped as they fell to the Cubs 5-3.
The Captains got on the board first with three runs in the second inning. Gavin Collins led off the inning with a single. After Emmanuel Tapia struck out, Junior then doubled, putting runners at second and third. The double was Soto's fourth hit in two games as a Captains all four hits have been doubles. Jose Vincente followed with a single to center field, Collins and Soto scored, giving Lake County a 2-0 lead. Jorma Rodriguez then drew a base on balls off South Bend starter Erling Moreno. Miguel Eladio then grounded into a fielder's choice and Vincente was retired at third base, putting runners at first and second for Conner Capel who singled to center field, driving home Rodriguez with the third run of the inning.
The Cubs tied the game with three runs in the fourth inning off Captains starter Juan Hillman. Hillman, a lefty allowed a leadoff homer to Vimael Machin and then allowed three more singles in the inning which resulted in the Cubs tying the game 3-3. The homer for Machin was his third of the season.
South Bend took the lead in the top of the eighth inning on a solo home run by Kevonte Mitchell. The home run for the Mitchell was his sixth of the season and gave the Cubs a 4-3 lead. Captains reliever Michael Letkewicz gave up the home run.
The Cubs added a final run in the ninth inning off Captains reliever Henry Martinez.
Tyson Miller picked up the win in relief for the Cubs. Miller went three and one third innings allowing only one hit, two base on balls and struck out two Captains. With the win Miller improves to 4-4 with a 4.65 ERA. Michael Letkewicz took the loss for Lake County. Letkewicz worked two innings, allowing one run on two hits and struck out two. With the loss, the right hander falls to 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA.
The Captains will be off on Monday before they travel to Fort Wayne for a three-game series with the TinCaps. First pitch for game one of the series will be at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday. Lefty Tanner Tully will take the mound for the Captains. Tully, is 2-4 with a 2.81 ERA. Fort Wayne has not named a starting pitcher for the game.
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POSTED 06/04/2017 16:28
Lake County Captains Outfielder Conner Capel. Photo by Greg Goth