Loons Even Series, Put Together 13 Hit Night

Fort Wayne, Ind. – The Great Lakes Loons (62-37) (17-17) plated eight runs off 13 hits, all singles topping the Fort Wayne TinCaps (51-49) (19-15) 8-4 on an 85-degree Friday night at Parkview Field.

Hyun-il Choi commanded the zone and induced nine contact outs, completing 4.2 scoreless innings. The right-hander forced a double play groundout for the first two outs in the second inning and struck out two stranding a runner in scoring position in the fourth.

Luis Diaz reached four times, coming across the plate each time. Two Fort Wayne errors put Diaz at third base in the first. A misplay at second put him on base and after a steal of second, an errant throw put the 23-year-old 90 feet away. Alex Freeland drove in Diaz with a single to open the scoring, his first of three hits on the night.

Great Lakes scored a run in each of the first three innings. In the second, Chris Alleyne walked to begin the frame and was driven in by a Jake Vogel sacrifice fly. Luis Diaz began the third with a single and with two outs Nick Biddison stepped up. The 2022 4th Round pick legged out an RBI infield single, in his Loons debut.

The biggest offensive inning was a three-run fifth. A single, error and walk loaded the bases with one out. Nick Biddison was hit by a pitch from newly entered Adam Smith to bring the score to 4-0, Chris Alleyne next-up ripped a two-run single up to right field. At the halfway point, Great Lakes led 6-0.

Baserunning abetted two insurance runs for the Loons in the top of the seventh. Taylor Young walked, stole second, and scored on a Luis Diaz single. Young has a 26-game on-base streak, the second longest this season for a Great Lakes batter. Dalton Rushing had a 29-game on-base streak from April 7th to May 4th. Diaz came around after a wild pitch.

Fort Wayne scored four runs in the final four innings. One with an RBI groundout in the sixth and a wild pitch in the eighth. Mitchell Tyranski struck out two, the second Nathan Martorella as the TinCaps left the bases loaded in the seventh. Carlos De Los Santos maneuvered around two walks, with an inning-ending groundout in the bottom of the eight.

Graham Pauley for the TinCaps added to his home run hot streak, his fourth in five games, with a two-out two-run dinger in the ninth. Lucas Wepf settled down, striking out two to end the game.

With the series split, game five is tomorrow night Saturday, August 5th. The first pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the 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.