Photo: Great Lakes Loons
By Jon Weisman
From the start of the Midwest League regular season through the end of the playoffs today, the Great Lakes Loons won 72 games and lost 78.
But the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate is the champion of the league.
Twice rallying from three-run deficits today, Great Lakes won Game 4 of the Midwest League Finals, 9-8, to take the crown.
Matt Jones went 4 for 4 with two doubles and two RBI, and Logan Landon (2 for 3 with a walk) broke a 7-7 tie and capped a five-run seventh inning with a two-run double.
Dean Kremer pitched 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief to finish the game for the Loons. Kremer is on the Team Israel roster for its World Baseball Classic qualifier games in Brooklyn beginning September 22.
Great Lakes went 65-75 overall in regular-season games this year. In the first half of the season, the Loons finished in seventh place in the Midwest League Eastern Division. But by going 36-34 in the second half, Great Lakes squeezed out a playoff spot.
In the first round of the postseason, the Loons knocked out Bowling Green, which was 19 1/2 games better than Great Lakes in regular-season games. Then in the semis, the Loons eliminated West Michigan, which had been eight games better.
Clinton was the biggest conquest of all. The LumberKings were 86-54 — 21 games more succulent than the Loons. But after a 16-6 rout in the opening game of the finals, Great Lakes won the title with a day to spare.
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