With the wind blowing out of Classic Park, Jhonkensy Noel took full advantage of it as the Captains opened up their series against the Dayton Dragons on Sept. 7.
Noel hit a pair of two-run home runs and ended the night with five RBI in the Captains’ 6-1 win over Dayton.
Lake County (59-50) still sits one game out of the High-A Playoffs as Great Lakes defeated West Michigan, but move ahead of Cedar Rapids after its loss to Wisconsin.
Noel’s big night began in the first inning as he sent one deep to right field off of Christian Roa to bring himself and Jose Tena home. He also went deep in the third inning, this time to left field, for another two run shot.
“The pitchers threw me a lot of change-ups,” Noel said. “I’m seeing the change-up really well. If I miss a fastball, that’s OK. Sometimes there’s a hanging change-up and I know that I can hit that and get either an extra-base hit or bring a run home.”
Noel added another run in the fifth inning with a double to left that brought Christian Cairo home. Joe Donovan added a solo shot in the second.
It was also a good night for the Captains' pitching staff as Kevin Coulter and Zach Draper allowed just three hits and no walks. However, the duo combined to strike out only three batters in the game.
While they weren’t striking out batters, the Lake County pitchers were able to control the count, and Captains manager Greg DiCenzo was pleased with what he saw from his two pitchers against Dayton.
“When you work yourself into advantage counts, you’re able to expand the zone a little bit,” DiCenzo said. “They did that very well tonight. When they got into unfavorable accounts, they were able to throw their off-speed pitches for strikes. If they fell behind they were able to work back, and as a result they challenged hitters to put the ball in play. While the game is changing to where you see double-digit strikeouts every single night, it’s good to see a game where guys aren’t afraid to pitch to contact.”
The defense was a big contributor while the pitchers struggled to strike out batters. An example came in the eighth inning off of a Jacob Hurtubise fly ball.
Micha Pries overestimated the fly ball and overestimated his dive as he went into the Dragons' bullpen. But Pries recovered with a throw to Noel at third to tag out Hurtubise.
“It’s an all hands on deck mentality when it comes to defense,“ DiCenzo said. “Especially in these types of games where everything gets a bit accentuated. If a guy is out there struggling offensively or we run into a buzzsaw pitcher, how can you find a way to win a game for your team. We need to do those little things if we want our season to continue.”
It is a quick turnaround for both teams, as they return to the diamond for the second game of the series at 1 p.m. Sept. 8. The Captains send Tanner Burns (2-5, 3.92) to the bump.
