Loons Pitching Dazzles in 2-1 Victory, Choi Shines in Season Debut

Peoria, Ill. – Five Great Lakes Loons (27-15) pitchers stranded six Peoria Chiefs (21-21) runners on base catapulting them to a 2-1 win on a 73-degree Thursday night at Dozer Park. Hyun-il Choi made his 2023 debut and hurled three scoreless innings. Great Lakes are winner of two in the first three games in the Prairie State.

The Loons, for the second straight game, scored in the first inning. Damon Keith, who homered last night in the opening frame, once again drove in a run with a single to left field. Keith now has six runs batted in, through his last four games.

Yon Castro, started the game for Great Lakes, retiring nine of the ten he faced. The right-hander’s lone baserunner was Nathan Church, a single by the Midwest League hits leader. Castro punched out three of the final four batters.

Peoria’s Dionys Rodriguez retired 10 consecutive after the RBI single from Keith. In the fifth, the Loons tacked on their second run. Jake Vogel was hit by a pitch and moved to third from two infield singles, by Luis Diaz and Austin Gauthier. Dalton Rushing stepped up and walked on five pitches to make it 2-0.

Great Lakes left the bases loaded following that, Rodriguez completed his first five-inning outing of 2023.

From the bottom of the fifth to the ninth, the Chiefs' leadoff hitter reached scoring position, with five left on each time.

In the fifth, Jimmy Crooks doubled off Hyun-il Choi. The right-hander then got a flyout and two groundouts to close the inning.

Ramon Mendoza sliced two doubles, to open the sixth and eighth. Choi finished his third inning of work in the sixth with a groundout, strikeout, and popup. The eighth was pitched by Benony Robles, who needed just nine pitches to escape the frame.

The seventh was the lone inning with a Peoria run. A one-out single from Jeremy Rivas moved Crooks from first to third base. An RBI groundout to first by Osvaldo Tovalin pulled the score to 2-1. Carlos De Los Santos forced a groundout that stranded Rivas, 90 feet away from tying the game.

Reinaldo De Paula entered in the bottom of the ninth and gave up the only two Chiefs walks. With two on and one out, Osvaldo Tovalin had another chance to produce. He grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, Alex Freeland – Yeiner Fernandez –Luis Diaz to conclude the game.

Great Lakes remain four games up in the Midwest League East. Game four is tomorrow Friday, May 26th, first pitch is at 7:35 p.m. ET from Dozer Park.

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.