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The Captains were on the verge of potentially snatching a painful defeat from the jaws of a well-deserved victory on September 15 at Classic Park.
Infielder Raynel Delgado made sure that didn’t happen.
There were two strikeouts late in the eighth inning as Delgado headed for home plate to pinch wide receiver Gianpaul Gonzalez. The captains had a rider on board, Joe Naranjo, who had chosen the left side of the infield.
The score was tied at 6-6 as the Snappers methodically erased the 6-0 lead Lake County had built up after the first two innings.
Delgado hadn’t seen the pitch since September 12, when he played third and took a bad ground jump from the bone above his left eye.
A switch hitter, Delgado was hitting the left side against Beloit’s right-handed reliever Eli Villalobos.
“I had ice on my eyes for 48 hours. Nothing was broken. I was ready to go if I was called, ”said Delgado.
Delgado jumped on the first pitch he saw from Villalobos, completing a two-run home run over the wall into right center field to put the captains in front.
“It was a change that has stuck,” said Delgado.
Lake County relievers Kevin Kelly and Nick Gallagher walked a tightrope early in the ninth inning but held the line, preserving an 8-6 win that keeps the captains in the thick of the playoff pursuit. from High-A Central with four regular season games. remaining.
Delgado, still with a black eye, was .204 with five homers and 30 RBIs in 95 games.
“It was great, especially at this time of year with the (playoff) race so tight and we have to win every game,” said Delgado.
The sixth round trip for Delgado and the two runs he produced kept the Captains (63-53) in a neck-and-neck fight with the Cedar Rapids Kernels (63-52) and Great Lakes Loons (62 -53) for the remaining place for the playoffs.
These two teams played later on September 15.
The captains raced to a 6-0 lead over Beloit starter Dax Fulton, who lasted 1 2/3 innings. The big hits were a two-run double late in the first inning from Jonathan Rodriguez and a two-run homerun from Jhonkensy Noel late in the second inning.
Beloit scored single runs early in the third and fourth innings, two early in the sixth and one early in the seventh to make it 6-5. A Ricky Aracena solo homerun early in the eighth inning forged a 6-6 tie and set the stage for Delgado’s heroism late in the game.
“Regarding our situation at this point in the season, it was as important as it gets,” said captains manager Greg DiCenzo.
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