Loons Pitching Walks 13 Batters, Captains Cruise with Mace’s Eight Innings

Midland, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (37-17) dropped their second game in the last 14 played as the Lake County Captains’ (26-28) starter Tommy Mace spun a career-high eight scoreless innings in a 7-2 win on a 67-degree partly cloudy Friday night at Dow Diamond.

With a West Michigan Whitecaps and Dayton Dragons loss tonight, the Loons' “magic number” is now four. 12 games remain in the first-half schedule, with the Loons atop the division by nine games over both teams.

Tommy Mace had everything working against the Loons. Great Lakes had just three baserunners through the first eight innings. Chris Newell singled twice, in the second and seventh, stealing second base twice. Newell had two-multi hit games through nine played with the Loons. Mace struck out 11 Loons, his first-ever double-digit strikeout performance.

Great Lakes tallied two in the ninth, to deny a shutout. After a Dalton Rushing walk, Alex Freeland throttled a towering fly ball over the right field fence to bring the score to 7-2. Freeland has four home runs and now 36 runs batted in, the third-most in the Midwest League.

Ronan Kopp worked three hitless innings, his only run permitted came from Yordys Valdes. He walked, advanced to second on a wild pitch, stole third, and then sprinted home after a throwing error. The left-hander tossed a 1-2-3 second inning and worked around two walks in the third, with a six-pitch inning-ending punchout.

Lake County walks continued through the middle innings. Back-to-back walks after two singles netted a run in the fourth off Reinaldo De Paula. In the fifth, two walks helped move a runner into scoring position that was plated on a Dayan Frias sacrifice fly to left field. Three Captains hits produced two runs in the top of the sixth, a Jake Fox RBI double and Nate Furman RBI single.

The fifth and start of the sixth were pitched by Jerming Rosario, who recorded four outs. Franklin De La Paz finished the frame. Five walks combined by De La Paz and Carlos De Los Santos assisted two more Lake County runs. The Captains' win is their third in nine games played between the two teams.

Game four of the six-game series is tomorrow Friday, June 9th, 2023. It is Pride Night, presented by Great Lakes Bay Pride and Dow GLAD, and Feast Friday, brought to you by Isabella Bank. First pitch is at 7:05 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.