Late Leonard Longball Lifts Loons to Fourth Consecutive Win

In what was a true pitchers’ duel Friday night at LMCU Ballpark in Comstock Park, Mich., the Great Lakes Loons were able to manufacture two runs in the first six frames before the West Michigan Whitecaps tied it up in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The game was tied for just one at-bat.

Eddys Leonard led off the seventh inning for Great Lakes with a solo home run to break the tie and give the Loons what would be their final advantage, 3-2, over West Michigan.

West Michigan (7-12) got their two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to a two-run double from Andrew Navigato, the only hit he had in the contest. Loons southpaw Julian Smith was the lone Great Lakes pitcher to give up runs in the game.

Those runs took Gavin Stone out of contention for the win in the game, despite tossing the best start by a Loon this season. The 2020 fifth-round draft pick went five innings of two-hit baseball, walking two batters but keeping the Whitecaps scoreless while striking out seven. Stone’s start is the longest by a Great Lakes pitcher yet this year, and he is the first Loons starter to leave the game in line for the win.

Great Lakes (9-10) scored first for just the second time this series, despite winning all four games thus far. The first run came in the third inning off of three straight singles by Joe Vranesh, Leonard, and Jorbit Vivas, whose hit drove in Vranesh to give the Loons an early 1-0 lead.

They doubled the lead in the sixth. Ismael Alcantara led off the frame with a single and later scored on an RBI ground ball fielder’s choice from Leonel Valera. That was the first of two runs the Loons scored off of West Michigan right-handed reliever Michael Bienlien (L, 1-1), the second being the Leonard home run.

The Loons, High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, spun another terrific game on the mound. In this series, Great Lakes has allowed just six earned runs in 36 innings of work, which calculates to a sparkling 1.50 ERA for the week. After Stone and Smith, Michael Hobbs (W, 2-0) and Ryan Sublette (SV, 1) combined to toss the final 3 1-3 innings of work and did not allow a hit. Hobbs walked one and struck out two in 1 1-3 innings, while Sublette tossed the last six outs, giving up a hit batsman and a pair of walks while punching out four, including three strikeouts in the ninth.

Great Lakes pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts in the game, increasing their strikeout average which sat at 11.59 per nine innings coming into the game. That number was already good for second place in the Midwest League.

Loons batters also had a good day at the plate, only striking out seven times in nine innings. Multiple players had a multi-hit day: Leonard went 2-for 5, Vivas went 2-for 4 and reached three times, Ryan January went 2-for-3 with a walk as well.

West Michigan, the Detroit Tigers’ High-A partner, has now lost six games in a row and 10 of their last 11 contests.

Great Lakes leads the season series over West Michigan five games to two, and is out to a 4-0 start in this six-game set. The two teams will square off again Saturday afternoon from LMCU Ballpark, with first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m. The Loons are scheduled to start right-hander Kyle Hurt (0-0, 2.35 ERA), opposing fellow righty Wilmer Flores (0-0, 0.90 ERA) for the Whitecaps. Catch all the action on ESPN 100.9 FM, with pregame coverage beginning at 1:45 p.m. with the Loons On-Deck Circle, driven by Garber Chevrolet Midland.

The Great Lakes Loons have been a Single-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 ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.