The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Late home run propels TinCaps past Captains
Solo blast by Fort Wayne’s Williams-Sutton answers game-tying HR by Captains’ Rocchio
The Lake County Captains have had a penchant for lategame offensive heroics this season.
Visiting Fort Wayne took a page out of that book in a 4-3 win over the Captains in front of 2,473 fans at Classic Park on May 15.
Dwanya Williams-Sutton nit a solo home run in the top of the ninth inning off Nick Gallagher to give the TinCaps the victory and give the Captains their first home loss of the season.
The home run came just moments after Lake County’s Brayan Rocchio hammered a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game at 3-3.
Offense was tough to come by all night for the Captains (74). The TinCaps held the home team to two hits all night — a second-inning single by Raynel Delgado and Rocchio’s homer in the eighth.
Despite the off night at the plate, Rocchio said he and his teammates are optimistic.
“We feel good because we are hitting a lot,” he said of the Captains, who came into the game batting .256 — fourth in the High-A Central East Division.
“We hit some balls pretty hard. We put a little pressure on them. We were a knock away from putting up a couple of runs early.” — Captains manager Greg DiCenzo
“We didn’t hit a lot today, but the energy is the same all the time.”
The Captains took the early lead in the second when Jonathan Engelmann reached on an error and moved to third on Delgado’s single. Austen Wade then plated Englemann with a sacrifice fly.
It wasn’t until six innings later that the Captains got on the board again.
Captains manager Greg DiCenzo credited the TinCaps’ pitching for his team’s offensive drought.
“They were down in the zone,” DiCenzo said of the TinCaps pitching hammering the low strikes. “We hit some balls pretty hard. We put a little pressure on them. We were a knock away from putting up a couple of runs early.”
Lake County kept Fort Wayne off the scoreboard until the seventh when Jonny Homza led off with a home run. A short while later, Justin Lopez delivered a two-run double to right to score Agustin Ruiz and Tirso Ornelas for a 3-1 lead.
An inning later, Mike Amditis reached for Lake County when he was hit by a pitch. Amditis rode home on Rocchio’s homer to left, which featured a nifty batflip as the ball cleared the fence.
“I think what makes it more impressive is he jumped to the right side of the plate,” DiCenzo said of the switch-hitting Rocchio. “He’s been batting from the left side of the late quite frequently this homestand.”
The Captains and TinCaps (4-6) will resume their series on May 16, with Lake County’s Mason Hickman (0-1, 7.36 ERA) facing Fort Wayne’s Ethan Elliott (0-1, 1.00).