Ferris K’s 8, Pontooners Level TinCaps 7-4

MIDLAND, Mich. – The Great Lakes Pontooners (42-43) (8-11) landed a 7-4 victory propelled by power pitching with 14 strikeouts of Fort Wayne TinCaps (36-50) (8-12) hitters on an 87-degree partly cloudy Saturday night at Dow Diamond.

- Jackson Ferris, struck out eight across six innings. The left-hander struck out two in the first inning. Fort Wayne got two runs in the second inning, a leadoff walk followed by a double and then an RBI groundout and one-out RBI single. The rest of the way, the 20-year-old permitted two base runners and no runs. He struck out his final two faced, and all eight swinging.

- Dylan Lesko, struck out one more batter than Ferris but allowed one more run. The right-hander struck out the side in the first. A leadoff walk to Dylan Campbell came in the second, he stole second base and moved on two flyouts, for Great Lakes' first run. Jake Vogel after a one-out triple in the bottom of the third, scored on a wild pitch to tie the game.

- The Pontooners had two two-run frames in the fifth and sixth to take and grow a lead. Jordan Thompson and Frank Rodriguez delivered back-to-back doubles. Josue De Paula, in his Dow Diamond debut, walked and stole second. That generated a throw toward third to back pick Rodriguez but bounced toward left field.

- In the bottom of the sixth, with two outs, Great Lakes generated three straight hits. Against Tyler Morgan, Jake Gelof doubled, followed by Thompson and Rodriguez with consecutive RBI singles.

- After a Joshua Mears two-run homer in the seventh, pulled the deficit to two, Chris Newell notched an RBI double, scoring Noah Miller, who walked in the bottom of the seventh.

- Kelvin Bautista was lock down in the final two innings, he struck out the first four he faced. The left-hander dropped his season era to 4.97 over 38 innings.

Rounding Things Out

Frank Rodriguez has played 53 games with Great Lakes across two seasons. In six games, he has had multiple RBI.

Up Next

Great Lakes can split the series with Fort Wayne tomorrow Sunday, July 14th. The first pitch is at 1:05 pm. The first 1,000 fans will receive a limited-edition team photo from Michigan Brand Meats. With the Olympics approaching, Lou E.'s Kids Club Takeover Gold Medal Games will be held tomorrow, brought to you by myMichiganHealth.

The Great Lakes Loons have been a partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and Sports Radio 100.9 The Mitt. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.