The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Low-A Minor League affiliate Great Lakes Loons won the 2016 Midwest League championship by edging Clinton LumberKings (Seattle Mariners affiliate), 9-8, in Game 4 at Dow Diamond on Sunday afternoon.
Clinton took a 3-0 lead in the second inning, getting to Yadier Alvarez on three hits, including a solo home run. Great Lakes tied in the bottom half of the inning, and took a 4-3 lead in the fourth.
The LumberKings tied the game in the fifth and jumped ahead in the sixth, behind a three-run inning.
The Loons capitalized on four walks in the bottom of the sixth to score five runs to take a lead they never relinquished.
Logan Landon hit a go-ahead, two-run double. Dean Kremer allowed one hit and issued one walk over 2.2 innings to earn the save.
CHAMPS!!!!!!#MWLCS #DiveIn #LoonsBaseball pic.twitter.com/3P5cLGEKRg
— Great Lakes Loons (@greatlakesloons) September 18, 2016
The championship caps off an improbable season and postseason run for the Loons, who were in seventh place in their division during the first half of 2016 with a 29-41 record. Great Lakes went 36-34 during the second half.
They earned a playoff berth with a walk-off win in the ninth inning on the second-to-last day of the regular season. Great Lakes staved off elimination by winning Game 3 on the road during the first and second rounds.
They dropped Game 1 to Clinton before storming back with three straight victories. Great Lakes went 7-3 during postseason play. The championship is the Loons’ first in their 10-year existence, all of which has been spent as the Dodgers’ affiliate.
