Captains pitching outduels Dragons in 1-0 win

(EASTLAKE, OH) - On Tuesday afternoon the Lake County Captains returned home to Classic Park for a sun drenched 11 am start against the visiting Dayton Dragons (Cincinnati Reds). The game was a good old fashion pitchers duel with only seven hits between the two teams, but the Captains got the one hit that matter to drive in the only run of the game and bring home the win 1-0. The win sent the crowd of 3,362 at Classic Park home happy.

The only run of the game came in the third inning when Connor Kokx led off the inning by drawing a base on balls off Dragon’s starter Miguel Medrano. Medrano then struck out Angel Martinez for the first out of the inning. On the strike three pitch Kokx stole second, his fifth steal of the season. Medrano then got Joe Naranjo to ground out to first moving Kokx to third base. Alexfri Planez then came to the plate and extended his hitting streak to 22 games by singling to right field driving home Kokx and give the Captains a 1-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Captains starter Jack Leftwich was making his second start for Lake County was dealing. Leftwich went six shut out innings allowing just two hits while striking out 11 Captains hitters. In two starts covering 12.1 innings the big righthander is 2-0 allowing only three hits, issuing just two base on balls and striking out 15 batters. He is yet to allow a run since being promoted to Lake County on July 3.

Captains Manager Greg DiCenzo says even before talking about what kind of stuff Leftwich has the impressive things is his poise. DiCenzo remarked that Leftwich has the poise of a Major League pitcher right now.

With Planez extending his hitting streak to 22 games he is now just two games shy of the Captains record for consecutive games with hits at 24 held by Francisco Mejia in 2016. DiCenzo commented that Planez didn’t play a lot early in the season because he was battling a hand related injury. Planez has hit safely now in every game since June 18th when the streak began against Beloit at Classic Park.

Leftwich picked up the win improving to 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Medrano was the hard luck loser for the Dragons. Medrano went four innings allowing one run, it was earned on one hit while issuing four base on balls and striking out four Captains hitters. With the loss Medrano falls to 1-2 with a 6.05 ERA.

With the win the Captains improve to 8-8 in the second half and 43-39 overall.

The two teams will play game the second game of the six-game series on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm. Christian Roa will be on the mound for the Dragons. Roa, righty was a second-round pick of the Reds in 2020 out of Texas A&M and is 3-3 with a 4.86 ERA. Aaron Davenport will make the start for Lake County. Davenport a righthander is 2-4 with a 4.53 ERA.

tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim Check out our IndiansNation fan Page

POSTED 07/12/2022 13:46

Lake County Captains . Photo by Tim Shirer