Whitecaps Hold Off Loons, Win Series

Midland, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (65-42) (20-22) were held to one baserunner in the final four innings dropping the series finale to the West Michigan Whitecaps (55-51) (23-18) 3-2 on a 73-degree partly cloudy Sunday afternoon at Dow Diamond.

The last 10 Great Lakes batters went down in order. The Whitecaps won four of the six games and are 9-2 in August.

The Loons' offense started the scoring with a three-hit second inning. Nick Biddison and Chris Alleyne smacked back-to-back singles. With two outs, Jake Vogel ripped one up the middle to make it 1-0. Vogel has eight RBI in August and five in the series.

After leaving two on base in the second, West Michigan put together a two-run three-hit inning to take the lead. Gage Workman drove in Carlos Mendoza with a double, Workman was plated by an Eliezer Alfonso RBI single. Both RBI hit went opposite-field to left.

Whitecaps starter Dylan Smith struck out five, including two in the third. Smith left a runner on for Trevin Michael. He collected the final two outs working around a Max Hewitt single. West Michigan increased their lead to two in the top of the fifth. Carlos Mendoza walked, stole second base, and moved to third on a groundout. Mendoza attempted to steal home, forcing a Lucas Wepf balk.

Wepf threw home in time to get the runner, but a stop in his delivery led to the disengagement violation.

Great Lakes got a run back in the fifth inning. Yeiner Fernandez singled with two outs, his sixth hit of the series. Griffin Lockwood-Powell followed up with an RBI double to the right-center field gap. It was the last Loons hit of the game.

The Great Lakes bullpen kept the deficit within one. Christian Suarez secured the final two outs in the sixth. Ronan Kopp struck out four across the seventh and eighth inning. Loons pitching struck out 12 Whitecaps, and the game saw 27 combined punchouts.

Jack Dreyer stranded two runners inducing three groundballs in the ninth. He has a scoreless inning streak of 16.1 innings dating back to July 7th. Dreyer is tied with Stevie Emanuels of Lansing for the longest streak this season in the Midwest League.

The Loons head to Lansing, Michigan for a six-game road series. Game one is Tuesday, August 13th, 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.