Loons Walk-Off Winners on 17th Opening Day

MIDLAND, Mich. – Noah Miller, in his first game in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the eleventh, a Great Lakes Loons (1-0) 3-2 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps (0-1) on an overcast and windy Friday night at Dow Diamond.

Miller was on the Cedar Rapids Kernels 2023 Midwest League Championship team that defeated the Loons after a trade in the off-season, the 21-year-old Miller made his debut in Midland. Miller was the automatic runner in the tenth, moving to third, but on a one-out flyball to left that was caught on a dive was thrown out at home.

After a single and walk loaded the bases with two outs, Miller fouled off three pitches. Mitchell Miller’s ninth pitch of the encounter was rifled up the right field line which scored Luis Rodriguez from second base.

Loons' pitching was stellar all night, permitting just four hits. Christian Suarez allowed just one baserunner in two scoreless innings. Kelvin Ramirez punched out three, retiring all six batters he faced. Lucas Wepf needed just 14 pitches for a clean eighth and ninth inning.

In the eleventh, Fort Wayne’s Homer Bush Jr. tagged on a flyball to left from second and scored on a Griffin Doesrching groundout. Great Lakes was gifted the tying run in the bottom half, with Dylan Campbell moving from second to third and third to home, both on wild pitches.

Loons starter Jackson Ferris battled through three innings, allowing one run that was not earned. Ferris worked around three walks with four strikeouts. This was Ferris’ debut in the Midwest League after being acquired by the Dodgers in the off-season.

Rounding Things Out

Kyle Nevin, with his dad Phil Nevin in attendance, was never retired in five at-bats. He hit a single, walked three times, and got hit by a pitch. Dylan Campbell drove in the first run of the 2024 season with an RBI single in the third inning.

Up Next

The Great Lakes Loons are back in action tomorrow Saturday, April 6th, with the first pitch at 1:05 p.m. against the TinCaps.

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.