At one point, leading by a dozen runs in what was a blowout win over the Captains, the Loons had a magnificent day at the plate, which naturally included our Player of the Day.
Player of the Day
Even in the middle of an outstanding campaign, Emil Morales had an individual performance that stood out, recording five hits for the first time in his career, one of them a home run—his 20th in 78 games at the High-A level, 26 overall this season.
Adjusting seamlessly to the
demands of a higher level, the teenage shortstop has been the star of the show for the Loons since his call-up, crushing baseballs alongside the likes of Charles Davalan and more recently promoted Eduardo Quintero.
Triple-A Oklahoma City
Both sides couldn’t record more than a single hit with a runner in scoring position; the difference was that the Loons left over twice the number of runners on base, needing an 11th-inning rally to beat the Express by a score of 7 to 3.
Although he recorded an RBI, James Tibbs III had what could be described as a nightmare performance from the leadoff spot, striking out five times in six at-bats. Alek Thomas was the reason the Comets had the opportunity to win in extras in the first place, hitting two solo shots in the third and seventh innings.
The rally in extras to take the win was started by Zach Ehrhard, who hit his third triple of the season before the bottom of the order joined in on the fun. Lastly, Jake Cousins, on his first rehab assignment, and Bobby Miller were involved as part of a five-inning scoreless effort from the Comets’ bullpen.
Double-A Tulsa
It’s a rare feat to see your opponent record more than three times your number of hits and still find yourself on the winning side of a close matchup. Three hits were all the Drillers needed to beat the Wind Surge’s 10 in a 5-4 game.
Multiple errors by the Wind Surge defense in the third allowed the Drillers to score a pair of runs. Elijah Hainline secured a game-tying sacrifice fly in the seventh before Jake Gelof had the decisive knock of the game, a two-run shot in the eighth, his 30th long ball of the season—it was the only extra-base hit that Tulsa would record in this one, and the only one that they’d need.
High-A Great Lakes
The Loons hammered the Captains in a 13-7 win, with shortstop Emil Morales coming a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, securing a team-high five hits and four RBI. Morales took full advantage of a top of the order in Charles Davalan and Eduardo Quintero, who reached base in front of him consistently, three times each.
It was an even bigger win than the final score would suggest, given that when the Loons scored their 13th run, they led by a dozen. Since Will Gagnon only covered four innings in which he struck out seven, the win was given to Maddux Bruns. The young left-hander had the odd achievement of striking out more players (5) than outs he recorded (4) since one of them reached base on a wild pitch.
Class-A Ontario
The quickest path to overcoming defensive errors is to score a boatload of runs, something the Quakes did in a 10-7 win over the Tower Buzzers, moving past their three defensive mistakes to Ontario’s one. While starter Paul Nieves didn’t have a particularly dominant outing, he was solid enough to be in the lead after four; the real troubles came when reliever Dailoui Abad took the mound, as he was picked apart in a five-run sixth, overall allowing seven runs in just two innings of work.
There was a comeback spark in the ninth when Oswaldo Osorio hit a two-run shot before an out was recorded—the Tower Buzzers’ second homer of the game alongside a first-inning bomb from Ching-Hsien Ko—but the following three hitters were retired to keep the game from any real drama. While Osorio reached base all five times, the hitter behind him, catcher Conner O’Neal, finished the game with a golden sombrero.
Transactions
The Great Lakes Loons activated right-handed pitcher Alek Makarewich off the injured list and transferred fellow right-handed pitcher Reynaldo Yean to the development list. Lastly, Jake Cousins began a rehab assignment with the Oklahoma City Comets.
Wednesday’s scores
- Round Rock 3, Oklahoma City 7
- Tulsa 5, Wichita 4
- Lake County 7, Great Lakes 13
- Ontario 7, Rancho Cucamonga 10
Thursday’s schedule
- 1:00 p.m. PT: Great Lakes (Sean Patick) at Lake County (Jackson Humphries)
- Game 2: Great Lakes (Brooks Auger) vs. Lake County (Will McCausland)
- 4:45 p.m. PT: Oklahoma City (Jackson Ferris) at Round Rock (Blake Townsend)
- 5:00 p.m. PT: Tulsa (Aidan Foeller) vs. Wichita (Cory Lewis)
- 6:35 p.m. PT: Ontario (TBD) vs. Rancho Cucamonga (Derek Clark)
