MIDLAND, Mich. – Jose Pirela of the Lake County Captains (68-55) (31-28) hit a walk-off solo home run in the ninth inning to beat the Great Lakes Loons (71-53) (35-25) 4-3 on a partly cloudy 83-degree Tuesday night at Classic Auto Group Park.
- Neither team scored through the first five innings. Loons’ starter Tyler Gough stranded five Captains on base and struck out five. Lake County starter Harrison Bodendorf punched out seven and tossed five scoreless.
- Facing Logan McGuire, Great Lakes grabbed the first run of the game in the sixth. Eduardo Quintero walked, moved to second on an Emil Morales walk and then Chuck Davalan and Nico Perez had back-to-back flyouts. Perez’s sac fly went to the track in right field.
- The Captains’ claimed the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. Anthony Martinez walked on nine pitches with one out to oust Gough. Cannon Peebles hit a sharp ground ball to third base that went through the legs of Mairo Martinus. With two in scoring position, Jose Pirela drilled a opposite field two-run double to the left field alley against Matt Lanzendorfer.
- Victor Rodrigues had one home run in his first 73 games with the Loons. Tonight, he pushed them ahead with a two-run laser shot over the left field fence in the seventh. Eduardo Guerrero doubled off the wall in right field with one out and then with two outs and on a 1-0 pitch Rodrigues went deep. All three of Great Lakes runs came against Logan McGuire.
- Another Loons error and double permitted, tied the game. Tommy Hawke hit a one-hopper to Martinus and it ricocheted off his mitt. Hawke advanced to second on a balk. 19-year-old Dauri Fernandez ripped a ball past a diving Martinus up the left field line.
- Lake County’s Cam Schuelke struck out two in two scoreless and went six up and six down. His three arm slots kept Great Lakes batters off balanced.
- Robby Porco went 1-2-3 in the eighth inning. Extended into the ninth, his 2-2 pitch to Jose Pirela was rocketed onto the berm beyond the right field fence. The Captains have three walk off home runs in 2026, all three have come against the Loons.
Rounding Things Out
West Michigan is currently in action against Dayton. The Loons with a West Michigan win would have a 1.5 game lead over the Whitecaps and are 3.5 up on the Captains in the Midwest League East Division second half standings. Great Lakes has six games remaining this season, their magic number is four with a Whitecaps loss and remains at five with a West Michigan win.
Up Next
Great Lakes and Lake County play tomorrow Wednesday, September 2nd. The first pitch is at 6:35 p.m. ET.
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.