TinCaps Hold Off Late Loons Rally

Midland, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (55-27) scored eight of the last nine runs falling just short to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (44-40) 10-9 on a 78-degree partly cloudy Sunday afternoon at Dow Diamond.

Great Lakes was down 10-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth but positioned the potential tying run 90 feet away in the ninth. A passed ball with the bases loaded scored Chris Alleyne to make it 10-9. A Damon Keith eight-pitch walk loaded the bases with two outs before the game-ending strikeout.

The Loons posted their third inning this season with at least six runs, a six-run bottom of the sixth inning. Griffin Lockwood-Powell began things with a seven-pitch walk. Chris Alleyne singled and stole second to put two in scoring position. A Jake Vogel groundout plated Lockwood-Powell. After a second out, Great Lakes had five straight batters reach.

Dalton Rushing roped a single that one-hopped to the right field wall and scored Alleyne. Max Hewitt walked to put two on for Damon Keith, who smacked an RBI single to left field that deflect off Fort Wayne’s left-fielder allowing Keith to move to second.

Luis Diaz then launched a double to center field to score both runners against newly entered Carter Loewen. Diaz was then nearly picked off second base but sprinted to third after the throw from Loewen to the shortstop Nerwilian Cedeno who relayed it to third, but it was missed by Carlos Luis allowing Diaz to come home. Great Lakes pulled the score to 10-7.

An additional run brought the deficit within two. Luis Diaz detonated a ball 426 feet for a solo home run in the eighth inning off Aaron Holiday. Great Lakes' first run of the game, was also a homer. Griffin Lockwood-Powell lined one over the right field fence in the fourth, his eighth four-bagger of the season.

Fort Wayne’s offense was driven by the deep fly. Juan Zabala lifted a ball 382 feet to left field, a two-run shot after Yon Castro’s lone walk to Colton Bender. Graham Pauley powered a three-run home run apart of a TinCaps five-run fifth. All five runs, four earned against Adolfo Ramirez.

The deciding run, the tenth and final Fort Wayne run was a solo home run from Jakob Marsee in the sixth. Marsee’s second in the third game series. It was Carlos De Los Santos only run given up. Lucas Wepf and Franklin De La Paz combined for the final 2.2 innings scoreless.

After an off-day, the Loons make their first trip to Lansing, Michigan. They play six games against the Lansing Lugnuts. Tuesday, July 18th, will see game one, first pitch 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.