Dominic Ficociello went 1-for-3 at the plate with one run in today’s 2-1 outing. Victoria Walenga/The Pit
[dropcap]J[/dropcap]eff Ziomek pitched eight scoreless innings for the West Michigan Whitecaps as they defeated the Fort Wayne TinCaps by a final score of 2-1 at Fifth Third Ballpark.
Despite losing five of their seven games in the homestand, the Whitecaps (12-11) were able to end it by taking two out of three games against the TinCaps (9-13), putting them back over .500 for the season.
Ziomek was dominant for the Whitecaps, attacking the strike zone with solid command of both his fastball and his curveball. The lefty only allowed three hits in eight innings while striking out six and walking one. He was efficient with his pitches throughout the game, throwing 12 pitches or less in six of the eight innings he pitched.
The Whitecaps struggled to get baserunners against TinCaps’ starter Adrian De Horta, but managed to score a pair of runs due to a couple of defensive miscues by the TinCaps.
In the bottom of the second inning, Dominic Ficociello started off the inning with a single. As he attempted to steal second base, the throw from catch Ryan Miller went into centerfield allowing Ficociello to advance to third. During the same at bat, Ficociello scored on a wild pitch from De Horta. Ben Verlander then followed with a single before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. Verlander advanced to third on a fielding error and scored on a groundout off the bat of Bennett Pickar, giving the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead.
The score remained 2-0 until the ninth inning when Montreal Robertson made things a little interesting.
After striking out the first two batters he faced, Robertson walked the third batter of the inning. Fernando Perez laced a double to right field, making it a 2-1 game. A wild pitch by Robertson would advance Perez to third when Dane Phillips was brought in to pinch hit for the TinCaps. Entering the game, Phillips was fifth in the Midwest League with a .345 average, but he would not be able to be the hero for the TinCaps, as he grounded softly to second to end the game.
Although he pitched well, De Horta (0-1) took the loss for the TinCaps allowing two runs – one earned – on four hits in five innings.
West Michigan will travel to face the Lake County Captains on Monday with a 6:30 p.m. first pitch at Classic Park. RHP Chad Green (0-0 3.75) is scheduled to start for the Whitecaps against RHP Adam Plutko (0-0 4.15) of the Captains.
