Captains continue domination of hapless Whitecaps with 5-2 win

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Captains continue domination of hapless Whitecaps with 5-2 win

BY TIM SHIRER

CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER

(EASTLAKE, OH) - One night after the Lake County Captains swept the West Michigan Whitecaps in a doubleheader which included the Captains no hitting the Whitecaps in the second game of the DH, the two teams squared off for game three of their four game series on Saturday night. The Captains prevailed once again moving to 3-0 in the second half with a 5-2 win over the Whitecaps in front of 4,168 fans at Classic Park.

Lake County got on the board first in the fourth inning when Bo Naylor led the inning off with a single, it was the first base hit of the game for the Captains. West Michigan starter Gio Arriera then hit Jose Fermin with a pitch to put men on first and second for Josh Rolette who executed a perfect bunt single to load the bases. Jonathan Engelmann was next to the plate and grounded into a double play, but Naylor scored on the play giving the Captains a 1-0 advantage. Rolette and Engelmann were retired on the play, Fermin advanced to third base. Arriera then uncorked a wild pitch with Hosea Nelson at the plate and Fermin crossed home plate with the Captains second run. Nelson then struck out to end the inning.

The Captains increased their lead to five runs by putting three more on the board in the fifth inning and knocking Arriera from the contest with two outs in the inning. Drew Crosby came in to relieve the beleaguered Arriera. With one out in the inning Daniel Schneemann drew a base on balls. After Henry Pujols struck out Quentin Holmes singled to center field to put men on first and second. Naylor then came to plate and hit a laser down the right field line sending Schneemann and Holmes across home plate, Naylor ended up at second base on the throw. Jose Fermin then doubled off the left field wall and Naylor came home giving Lake County a 5-0 lead. Fermin was the last batter of the day for Arriera.

The Whitecaps got on the board with two runs in the eighth inning off Skylar Arias. The big blow in the inning was a two-run triple by Ulrich Bojarski. That was all the offense the whitecaps could manage on the night.

Captains starter Alex Royalty went six and two thirds shut-out innings allowing only four hits and striking out 10 Whitecaps. Royalty picked up the win and improves to 3-4 with a 4.10 ERA. Manuel Alvarez pitched a scoreless ninth inning to pick up his seventh save of the season.

Naylor had a nice night for the Captains going 2 for 4 with two runs scored and two RBI. With the two RBI Naylor has 28 for the season. Jose Fermin went 2 for 3, with a double, steal (11), run scored and an RBI. Engelmann playing only his second game with Lake County after being promoted from Mahoning Valley on June 21 and went 2 for 4 and in the short span is hitting is 4 for 8 with a run scored, 2 RBI and a stolen base.

Arriera took the loss for the Whitecaps. He went four and two thirds inning giving up five runs, all earned on five hits. He issued one base on balls while striking out six in the losing effort. With the loss he falls to 2-5 with a 6.80 ERA.

The two clubs will close out the series on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Righthander Hugh Smith will be on the mound for the Whitecaps. Smith is 0-3 with a 4.82 ERA. The Captains will counter with Luis Oviedo. Oviedo is also a righty and is 2-4 with a 4.75 ERA.