Captains slay Dragons 6-1
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
(EASTLAKE, OH) – Tuesday night the Lake County Captains returned home to complete the 2021 season with a 12 game homestand. The first six game they welcomed the Dayton Dragons to Classic Park. The Captains took game one, actually we’ll just call it the Jhonkensy Noel Show 6-1.
The Dragons took the lead in the top of the first inning when Captains starter Kevin Coulter hit leadoff batter Jacob Hurtubise with a pitch. Hurtubise then stole his 36th base of the season and moved to third on a base throw to second base by Captains catcher Joe Donovan. Hurtubise scored when the Dragon’s next hitter Quin Cotton grounded out to third base giving Dayton a short lived 1-0 lead.
The Captains took the lead in the bottom of the first inning with one out Jose Tena singled and the Noel’s big night began when he belted his fifth home run of the season over the right center field wall giving the Captains a 2-1 lead.
The Captains extended their lead to 3-1 in the second inning when Donovan belted his fourth home run of the season over the left field fence.
The Captains added two more runs in the third inning when Noel came to bat again with a runner on base (Christian Cairo had singled to lead off the inning) and followed the same script as the first inning when he hit his sixth home run of the season 441 ft over the left field fence increasing Lake County’s advantage to 5-1.
Noel’s big night continued in the fifth inning with two men on base (Cairo reached on a base on balls and Jose Tena on an error by Dragon’s shortstop Matt McLain) and one out he doubled to left field driving home Cairo to extend the lead to 6-1.
Coulter picked up the win for Lake County. The big righthander pitched five innings allowing one run, it was unearned on two hits and struck out one Dragons hitter. With the win Coulter improves to 8-4 with a 5.27 ERA. Zach Draper pitched the final four innings for Lake County. He allowed just two hits and issued two base on balls along with one strike out to notch his first career save. Dragon’s righthanded starter James Proctor took the loss. Proctor went four and one third innings allowing six runs all earned on five hits. He issued one base on balls and struck out three Captains. The loss was Proctor’s first as he falls to 0-1 with a 6.48 ERA.
With the win the Captains improve to 59-50 and remain one game behind the Great Lakes Loons for the finals High-A Central playoff spot. The league will play a five game championship series. The first two games would be at the lower seed’s home and the final three games would be at the high seed’s home. The Quad Cities River Bandits have clinched the top seed. The Captains are battling the Loons who are one game ahead of them and the Cedar Rapids Kernels who are now one game behind Lake County for that final spot.
The Captains and Dragons will play game two of the six game series on Tuesday with a 1 p.m. first pitch. Christian Roa will be on the mound for the Dragons. Roa, a righthander is 1-2 with a 5.66 ERA. The Captains will send righthander Tanner Burns to the mound. Burns is 2-5 with a 3.92 ERA.
POSTED 09/07/2021 21:36