By WKTV Staff
The West Michigan Whitecaps — returning from a lost season in 2020 due to the pandemic — rallied for a 9-8 walk-off victory over the Great Lakes Loons Wednesday, May 12, at LMCU Ballpark, the team’s first home victory since Aug. 25, 2019.
The Whitecaps improved to 3-4 on the season while the Loons fall to 2-6.
This six-game series against the Great Lakes Loons continues Thursday at 6:35 p.m., as the Whitecaps send pitcher Chance Kirby to the mound against lefty Alec Gamboa for Great Lakes.
Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available for select Whitecaps 2021 home contests by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting whitecapsbaseball.com.
May 12 game breakdown
According to supplied material, in the May 12 game, Whitecap Daniel Cabrera’s game-tying RBI-double in the ninth set up a wild pitch that scored the Tigers 2020 second round pick from third base to win the contest.
The Whitecaps were hot at the plate early, plating seven runs through the first three innings as the Loons committed two errors while walking six as Parker Meadows, Andre Lipcius, and Dillon Dingler combined for four RBIs to take a 7-0 lead.
Whitecaps starting pitcher Garrett Hill, and bullpen arms Zach Hess and Brendan White, struck out 10 Great Lakes hitters through the first six innings while allowing two hits – both of them solo home runs. But the Loons made their comeback in the eighth as Miguel Vargas and Deacon Liput both drove in runs and narrowed the West Michigan lead to 7-4.
In the top of the ninth, the Loons loaded the bases with none out before single and a hit-by-pitch allowed a pair of Great Lakes runs and ended Whitecaps closer Ruben Garcia’s night while cutting the lead to just one, 7-6.
Yaya Chentouf came on in relief for the Whitecaps with the bases loaded and still none out, striking out two Great Lakes batters before two West Michigan fielding errors allowed Great Lakes to take the lead, 8-7.
But the Whitecaps responded in the bottom half, as Cabrera laced a game-tying RBI-double before scoring on a wild pitch to score the winning run.
Chentouf (2-0) gained his second win of the season with one inning while allowing no earned runs on a pair of strikeouts in the victory.
