Loons edge Captains in slugfest, 10-9
May 15—The Great Lakes Loons won't be back to Classic Park until the first week in August. Maybe by then Eddys Leonard will be playing for the Dodgers' Double-A team in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Leonard, the Dodgers' eighth-ranked prospect, according to MLB.com, homered twice and drove in five runs on May 15 to propel the Loons past the Captains, 10-9. The teams combined for seven home runs — three by the Loons and four by the Captains.
Great Lakes won four of the six games in the series, and Leonard is a big reason why. Leonard, a 21-year-old third baseman from the Dominican Republic, homered four times in the series. He had only two home runs this season before facing the Captains.
"We made too many mistakes. But, hopefully, that's a sign of things to come for us offensively," Captains manager Greg DiCenzo said. "We were able to string some hits together and got big knocks in some big spots to fight back. Every inning they scored, we were able to answer. That shows the compete level we're talking about and what we're hoping for. It's something to build off of"
PHOTOS: Captains vs. Loons, May 15, 2022
The Captains did not go quietly on a perfect Sunday afternoon for baseball. Leonard hit his first home run of the day in the top of the first inning. The Captains answered in their half of the first when Johanathan Rodriguez hammered a two-run homer to center field, driving in Jhonkensy Noel in front of him.
Leonard hit a three-run home run to left in the top of the fourth inning for a 5-2 lead, but Lake County clawed back again to tie the score, 6-6, in the bottom of the fourth. Korey Howland drove in two runs with a line-drive double to left and then scored on a single to center.
Captains relief pitcher Lenny Torres fell victim to an error by Lake County shortstop Raynel Delgado on an overthrow to first base and two close calls at second base that did not go the Captains' way. The result was three unearned runs scored by the Loons — one when Captains catcher Micael Ramirez was charged with a passed ball, allowing Ismael Alcantara to score from third and two on a two-run homer by Imaol Vargas.
The error by Delgado was one of the mistakes DiCenzo referenced.
"One pitch, one error, one mistake that costs you a few runs, you have to be able to work around those things, but offensively we gave ourselves a pretty good chance to win today," DiCenzo said.
The Captains refused to give in. They chopped into a 10-7 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when Aaron Bracho doubled to center to drive in Delgado. They had a chance to do more damage, but Korey Holland struck out swinging on a pitch around the bill of his batting helmet with two runners on.
Noel crushed his second home run of the day, a solo bomb over the advertising board in right-center to make the score 10-9 in the bottom of the eighth. He also singled and doubled.
The Captains now go on the road for two weeks. They play six games in Cedar Rapids and six in Peoria before returning to Classic Park on May 31 to start a six-game series with West Michigan.
