Brayan Rocchio, Jhonkensy Noel blast off with home runs in Akron, Lake County wins

Columbus Clippers 3, Louisville Bats 4

Box Score · Clippers fall to 15-8

Tobias Myers got the start, but he struggled, allowing three runs on five hits in 3.2 innings with two strikeouts and a walk.

The pitching hero for the Clippers was Kirk McCarty, who piggybacked with Myers for 5.1 innings, allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

The offensive hero was Will Benson, who did what leadoff hitters do, get on base. Benson went 2-3 with a pair of walks.

Gabrial Arias accounted for all of Columbus’ runs, blasting a three-run home run.

Bryan Lavastida went 1-4 with a walk and David Fry went 2-4 with a double.

Akron RubberDucks 4, Altoona Curve 2

Box Score · RubberDucks float to 10-10

Akron was outhit 8-5 and outwalked 5-3, but it didn’t matter, as the RubberDucks’ hits were bigger.

Jose Tena went 2-4 with a triple, but the big shots came from Brayan Rocchio, who went 1-3 with a two-run home run and a walk; and Marcos Gonzalez, who hit a solo shot.

Julian Escobedo walked and was hit by a pitch to reach base twice and Bo Naylor went 1-4 with a stolen base.

Starting pitcher Tanner Burns had another impressive performance, allowing just one run on four hits in 5.0 innings while striking out six and walking one.

Tim Herrin impressed with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief and Kevin Kelly earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.

Lake County Captains 3, Lansing Lugnuts 0 (G1)
Lake County Captains 0, Lansing Lugnuts 8 (G2)

Game 1 Box Score · Game 2 Box Score · Captains move to 9-11

Gavin Williams took the mound in game one and he was incredible, nearly tossing a complete game. All in all, he tossed 6.0 scoreless frames with one hit, one walk and five strikeouts.

Cade Smith struck out the side in a scoreless seventh inning to earn the save.

Offensively, Jhonkensy Noel blasted a two-run home run and that was all the offensive Lake County needed. Johnathan Rodriguez also homered. Gabriel Rodriguez also went 1-3 and stole two bases.

Lake County managed just one hit in game two. Petey Halpin went 1-2 with a catcher’s interference and a stolen base.

Starting pitcher Doug Nikhazy had a strong first two innings before running into trouble in the third, allowing four runs. He finished with four runs allowed on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks in 4.0 innings to take the loss.

Lynchburg Hillcats 9, Salem Red Sox 4

Box Score · Hillcats improve to 11-9

Lynchburg’s recent offensive eruption continued on Saturday as the Hillcats blasted off for nine more runs. After an ugly 3-8 start to their season, Lynchburg has won eight of their last nine games.

The Hillcats didn’t collect an extra-base hit, but they walked a whopping 11 times. Milan Tolentino went 1-2 with three walks and a stolen base. Jake Fox went 1-3 with two walks, as did catcher Richard Paz.

Jorge Burgos went 2-4 with a walk, Luis Durango went 2-5 with a stolen base, Dayan Frias walked and was hit by a pitch and WIll Bartlett went 1-4 with a walk

Starting pitcher Jake Miller was downright sensational, striking out a career-high nine batters while allowing just one hit and walking two in 4.0 shutout innings.

Piggy-back partner Jake Leftwich also impressed with strikeouts, whiffing eight more batters in his 4.0 innings of long relief, but he was knocked around for four runs (two earned) on three hits with a walk.