The Lakeland baseball team played host to the Lorain County Commodores today and came away with a split dropping game one 7-5 before winning the nightcap 9-7. In game 1, Lakeland jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning. James LaVigne hit a leadoff double and then advanced to 3rd on a fielder's choice from Ray Cowen. LaVigne would later score on a passed ball. Wilfredo Ortiz then started the Lakers again with a double. Aaron De Oleo Rivas followed with an RBI-single. Nicholas Square then walked before Parker LaGreca ripped an RBI-double. Josiah Cuesta then walked to load the bases with one out. Square then tried to score on a passed ball, but the Commodores were quick to recover and cut him down at the plate. Lakeland would not score again in the inning.  The game was cruising along until the top of the 4th inning when the Lakeland defense fell apart. The Commodores took advantage of 3 walks and 3 errors to score 6 runs and take the lead. Lorain would score another unearned run in the top of the 6th before Lakeland responded with 2 runs in the home half to make the score 7-5. In the rally, James LaVigne singled before Ray Cowen ripped a double. Wilfredo Ortiz then stepped up and ripped a 2-RBI single to cut into the lead. After holding the Commodores in the top of the 7th inning, Lakeland made one more attempt in the home half. Nicholas Square hit a leadoff double to give the Lakers hope. Unfortunately, they were unable to capitalize as they dropped game 1.

Offensively, the Lakers were led by Wilfredo Ortiz (3 hits, double, 2 RBI's). James LaVigne, Ray Cowen, and Nicholas Square all had 2 hits including a double while Parker LaGreca and Aaron De Oleo Rivas each had a hit and an RBI.  In total, the Lakers had 11 hits and left 8 men on base. On the mound, Aaron De Oleo Rivas started and pitched 2 scoreless innings striking out a batter. Leo Alonso relieved and threw 1 inning striking out all 3 batters. Jack Argie picked up the tough-luck loss pitching the next inning and allowing 6 runs (3 earned). Casen Smith relieved and threw 1 scoreless inning striking out 2 batters before Nathan Hawkins closed the game pitching 2 innings allowing an unearned run.

In game 2, the Commodores jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the 1st inning. The Lakers were not happy - and battled back immediately. Lakeland started by scoring a run in the home half of the 1st inning. Ray Cowen started the rally with a double and later scored on an RBI-single from Aaron De Oleo Rivas. In the bottom of the 2nd inning, the Lakers tacked on 2 more runs to make the score 4-3. Thomas Vokic hit a leadoff single and advanced to 2nd base on a catchers error. Vokic later scored on a 2-out RBI-single from Josiah Cuesta. Cowen then followed with another double to score Cuesta. In the bottom of the 3rd inning, the Lakers added another run to tie the score at 4. Wilfredo Ortiz hit a double and later scored on an RBI-single from Vokic. In the bottom of the 4th inning, the Lakers exploded for 4 runs to take an 8-4 lead. Josiah Cuesta got the rally started with a 1-out triple. Cuesta later scored on a passed ball. James LaVigne then walked before Ortiz doubled. Aaron De Oleo Rivas then crushed a 3-run home run to cap the scoring for the inning. The Commodores would score a run in the top of the 5th before the Lakers scored another run in the bottom of the 5th to give the hometeam a 9-5 lead. Vokic started the inning by reaching on an error and then stealing secong base. Tony Hall would then reach on an error before Brayden Fellouzis walked to load the bases. Ray Cowen would knock in an insurance run by hitting a sac fly to score Vokic. The Commodores would press in the top of the 7th to try and tie the game. With the bases loaded, a ball would be hit that centerfielder James LaVigne caught and then quickly threw to second base to double up the runner and end the game.

Offensively, Aaron De Oleo Rivas (2 hits, HR, 4 RBI's) led the way for the Lakers. Ray Cowen finished the game with 2 doubles and 2 RBI's while both Josiah Cuesta and Thomas Vokic each recorded 2 hits and an RBI. Wilfredo Ortiz also added 2 hits (2B) in the nightcap. On the mound Anthony Barbosa started and threw 1 inning allowing 4 runs (3 earned) while striking out 2 batters. Kaleb Corrin pitched the next inning holding the Commodores scoreless while striking out 1 batter. Kaden Stout relieved and earned the win pitching the final 5 innings and allowing 3 runs while striking out 2 batters.

Next Up: The Lakers will hit the road tomorrow (4/24) as they travel to Hocking College to face the Hawks. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm.