The Great Lakes Loons have assured themselves of a postseason spot for the first time since the 2013 season. The Loons play in the Eastern Division of the Midwest League in which both the first place and second place teams in the division earn a playoff berth.

The last time the Loons made it into the Midwest League playoffs was in 2013.
(Photo courtesy of MiLB.com)

The Lansing Lugnuts clinched the division title earlier in the week with the Loons battling the Dayton Dragons, Bowling Green Hot Rods and Lake County Captains for second place. The Dragons and Hot Rods were eliminated from playoff contention on Friday evening as both teams lost. The Loons stayed in contention with a 6-1 win against the first place Lugnuts.

Entering Saturday nights games the Loons had a magic number of one. That is, a Loons win or a Captains loss would assure the Dodgers Midland franchise of a coveted playoff spot. The Loons were again matched up with the Lansing Lugnuts at Cooley Law School Stadium in Lansing.

The game certainly had its dramatic moments but the Loons came away on the short end of an 8-2 score. Part of the drama in the game came on an unusual play the third inning. The Loons looked to have a big inning brewing when second baseman Kelvin Ramos and outfielder Alex Verdugo both singled to lead off the inning. Third baseman Jimmy Allen then lined a shot directly at Lugnuts shortstop Richard Urena who dropped the ball causing confusion for the Loons base runners. Chaos ensued on the base paths and before it ended the Loons had hit into a 6-4-5-6-3-4 triple play. It marked the first time the Loons had hit into a triple play since April 28th, 2013.

Meanwhile, the Lake County Captains and Dayton Dragons were engaged in a slugfest at Fifth Third Field in Dayton. Both teams had 15 hits during the game with the Dragons winning 9-8 in ten innings and eliminating the Lake County squad from first half playoff contention.

As a result of the Lake County loss, the Loons captured their first postseason berth since 2013. They also recorded their first winning record in the first half of a season since 2011 with a 38-29 record with one game to play before the All-Star break.

It might be argued that the Loons backed into the playoff picture, however there was much more at play than a loss by the Lake County Captains that helped the Loons take over second place in their division. In their last 22 contests they won 18 games and lost four with a 10-game winning streak at one point in their playoff run.

As the season progressed the Loons hitting moved into the middle of the pack during the first half. More importantly, significant hits were provided by almost every member of the offense during their winning streak.

The pitching staff continued to be consistent even after losing Joe Broussard, Jeff Brigham and Brock Stewart to the Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League. The relief corps once again provided dominance with J.D. Underwood, Bubby Rossman, David Reid-Foley, Karch Kowalczyk, Jose Alberto Molina and Kyle Hooper recording a total of 16 wins. As a testament to their dominance, the Loons were 21-0 when leading after seven innings.