Lake County Sentinel
Captains split twin bill with Quad Cities
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
Saturday night the Lake County Captains welcomed the Quad Cities River Bandits to Classic Park for a three game series, including a doubleheader to open the series. The Captains entered the twin bill losers of nine straight ball games. The Captains snapped their nine game skid in game one with a 2-1 walk off win. Game two was another story as they were shut out 2-0.
The Captains who have been outscored 44-14 during the nine game losing streak got on the board first in game one when Nathan Lukes belted his third home run of the season, a solo shot over the right field fence to give the Captains a 1-0 lead in the third inning.
The River Bandits countered with a single run in the top of the fifth inning to tie the game. The run came off Captains starter Jared Robinson.
Captain’s reliever Kieran Lovegrove, relieved Robinson after six inning and pitched two scoreless innings, picking up for Robinson who allowed only one run in six innings of work.
Finally Lukes led off the eighth inning and deposited his second home run of the game over the right field fence to give the Captains the 2-1 win and snap their nine game losing streak.
Lovegrove, picked up the win and improved to 3-3 on the year with a 4.04 ERA. Adam Whitt took the loss in relief for the River Bandits and fell to 3-3 with a 5.19 ERA.
The nine game skid was one shy of the club record set in 2011 from June 10 to 18, when the club lost 10 straight.
Game two did not go as well for Lake County as things fell apart in the third inning, when Dominic DeMasi encountered some trouble giving up a couple singles, his defense didn't help much as Connor Marabell airmailed the ball passed the third baseman. In the end the River Bandits scored two runs and DeMasi did not finish the inning as he was replaced by Erick Algerin who struck out the final hitter of the inning to end the damage.
DeMasi took the loss for Lake County and falls to 6-3 with 4.43 ERA. Quad Cities starter Jose Hernandez picked up the win and improves to 3-2 with a 2.66 ERA.
The Captains and River Bandits finish the three game series on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Righthander Chris Murphy will be on the mound for River Bandits. Murphy, is 3-5 with a 4.19 ERA. The Captains will counter with their own righty, Brock Hartson. Hartson is 5-4 with a 3.01 ERA.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our IndiansNation fan page
POSTED 07/16/2016 23:03
Mentor Little League All-Star Anna Siatkowski throws out the first pitch at Classic Park Saturday afternoon prior to a doubleheader between the Lake County Captains and Quad Cities River Bandits