The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Captains earn walkoff win
Lake County second baseman Jesse “J.J.” Berardi ran but could not hide after his RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning propelled the Captains to a 4-3 victory over the Lansing (Mich.) Lugnuts on June 14 at Classic Park.
Berardi came to the plate with one out in the bottom of the 10th and teammate Jose Medina stationed at third base after moving over from second base on a sacrifice bunt by Ulysses Cantu.
Medina started the inning at second base because of the new format in the minor leagues that puts a runner at second base to start every frame in extra innings.
Berardi timed up a fastball from Lansing reliever Claudio Custodio and lined it to center field to cement the Captains’ second See postgame video and a photo gallery. NEWS-HERALD.COM.
This was Berardi’s first walkoff hit in going on two professional seasons. Instead of running toward the teeming mass of celebrating teammates, he took off running toward right field and then did a zig-zag or two before being overtaken.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to watch the video,” Berardi said, smiling, when asked if he made sure to flip away his batting helmet before the pummeling ensued.
As explained by Captains manager Luke Carlin, the wise player instinctively gets rid of the helmet to lessen the force of blows to the head sure to come.
The extra-inning heroics were made necessary when the Lugnuts got to Lake County relievers Zack Draper and Dace Kime for two runs in the top of the ninth inning to forge a 3-3 tie.
Lake County had built a 3-1 lead after seven innings. One of those runs came courtesy of the 10th home run of the season off the bat of right fielder Oscar Gonzalez.
All’s well that ended well for the Captains and Berardi, the 22-year-old New York native selected by the Indians in the 10th round of the 2017 draft out of St. John’s University.
Captains starter Kirk McCarty was solid, giving up one run on four hits in six innings. He finished with seven strikeouts and did not issue a walk. The victory went to Kime (2-1, 4.50 ERA).
With the satisfying win, the Captains completed a three-game sweep of the Lugnuts and improved to 29-38. Lansing slipped to 40-27.