The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Captains, Loons square off in best-of-three
The mood was expansive Sept. 3 as the Captains finished a brisk, mid-morning workout at sun-drenched Classic Park.
Fielding practice and bullpen sessions were major items on the agenda as the Captains tuned up for what they hope is a long run in the Midwest League playoffs.
Sept. 4 at Classic Park, the Captains will host the Great Lakes (Mich.) Loons in Game 1 of the best-of-three MWL Eastern Division semifinals.
First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
As the workout ended and players began making their way to the home clubhouse, Captains hitting coach Jason Esposito strode down the third-base line toward home plate, bat in his left hand and a ball in the other hand.
“Want to see me hit one out there?” Esposito said, smiling and gesturing toward the fence in left field and the expanse of aluminum bleachers well beyond that barrier.
Captains manager Luke Carlin and baseball operations fellow Nick Ruppert stood nearby as Esposito flipped the ball in the air with his right hand and coiled into hitting position.
The 29-year-old Connecticut native and former corner infielder who played college baseball at Vanderbilt and four years in the Orioles’ minor-league system unleashed a powerful swing that sent the ball rocketing
toward the left-center field wall.
“I told him he has to put it in the article if I hit a home run, which I did,” Esposito said, referring to the reporter who happened to be nearby when he let fly.
As Esposito made his way toward Carlin for a fistbump, the distinctive clang of ball slamming into aluminum echoed through the ballpark.
Ruppert reported the ball landed in the top row of the bleachers, some 400 or more feet from home plate.
The workout and Esposito’s spontaneous power dis
play happened because the Captains, 74-64 in the regular season, earned a spot in the playoffs by finishing second to the Loons in the Eastern Division first-half race.
Carlin said his squad is in good shape mentally and physically for the series against Great Lakes, an 8155 finisher. The teams split their regular-season series, each winning six games.
“I feel like we have a good plan,” Carlin said of the series that shifts to Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich., for Game 2 on Sept. 5. Game 3, if necessary, is set for Sept.6
at the home of the Loons.
Lake County second baseman Jose Fermin was in the starting lineup April 4 when the Captains and Loons opened the regular season at Classic Park. The Captains won, 4-0.
“I remember we won the game and it was cold. I don’t miss that,” Fermin said.
In 105 games, Fermin paced the Captains with a .293 average, He has six home runs, 41 RBI and team-high totals of 115 hits, 28 stolen bases and 149 total bases.
The 20-year-old native
of the Dominican Republic will be in the lineup again when Captains’ scheduled starting pitcher Shawn McCarthy (4-3, 4.14 ERA) fires the first pitch in Game 1.
“This is a long season, and getting to the playoffs is our reward,” Fermin said. “We always play to win. It would be nice to get a (2019 MWL championship) ring.”
Loons outfielder James Outman patrolled center field and batted second in the chilly April opener. He was in the lineup when the Loons clinched the first-half title June 12 with a 5-0 win over the Captains at Clas
sic Park and will be again for Game 1.
A 22-year-old native of California, Outland was selected by the Dodgers in the seventh round of the June 2018 draft out of Sacramento State. He’s batting .226 in 118 games with a team-high 19 home runs, 56 RBI and team-high 180 total bases.
“The clinching celebration we had here is something I’d never experienced before and won’t forget,” Outman said before the Captains and Loons played the regular-season finale at Classic Park on Sept. 2.