[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here has been a lot of history at Fifth Third Ballpark since it first started hosting Whitecaps’ baseball in 1994, but fans were able to witness history first hand on Monday night when the West Michigan Whitecaps defeated the Lake County Captains by a score of 4-3 in an 18-inning game.
Kubitza won Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season. Pit file photo
West Michigan (18-13) was able to get through the entire game without having to use a position player on the mound, whereas Lake County (9-22) was forced to use position players for the last two innings, something that would end up costing them the game.
Monday’s game not only broke a stadium record, but also established a new franchise record for the Whitecaps for innings played during a game.
It looked like the Captains were going to be able to end the game in the 17th inning when a single by Captains’ designated hitter Brian Ruiz scored Nellie Rodriguez, breaking the 2-2 tie that went all the way back to the third inning.
Although Ruiz was the offensive hero for the inning, he was also forced to pitch for the Captains in the bottom of the 17th. Even though he struck out the leadoff hitter of the inning, his fastball in the high 70s wasn’t enough to fool the Whitecaps for long. Back-to-back singles by Tyler Gibson and Javier Betancourt put runners on the corners with one out. A couple batters later, Harold Castro drew a walk with the bases loaded to tie the score at 3-3.
The Captains had left fielder Cody Ferrell pitch the 18th inning, featuring a fastball in the upper 70s and a curveball in the low 60s. Ferrell’s inexperience caught up with him, as he walked four batters, including one with the bases loaded to Raph Rhymes which scored Willy Adames to end the game.
Will LaMarch (1-0) pitched a perfect top of the 18th to earn the win for the Whitecaps on a day where the team combined to just give up two earned runs throughout the entire game.
Cody Ferrell (0-1) took the loss for Lake County while making his first pitching debut in professional baseball.
With the win, the Whitecaps have won eight of their last 10 games while also lowering their ERA to a league best 2.47, which is more than a half-run better than the next best team.
The Whitecaps have enjoyed quality pitching by their entire staff over the last week, led once again by Austin Kubitza who was named the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week for the second time this year.
Even though he only made one start during the week, Kubitza was dominant, striking out 12 batters in seven innings while only allowing two hits against the Lake County Captains on Thursday.
