PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — Look, how else can we say it? The Whitecaps are a really good baseball team. Last week, the Caps (52-22, 8-1) went on the road and took five of six from the Lake County Captains (38-37, 3-6) — the one team that seemed to have given them problems this year.

In the first half of the season, the Captains went 8-4 against West Michigan, the only team in the Midwest League to have a winning record against the Caps. But Lake County couldn’t handle the Whitecaps’ bats this time around.

West Michigan outscored the Captains 57-34 across the six games, including a 21-4 stomping on Saturday night. The Caps’ “Big Three” certainly did their part, but the entire team contributed throughout the week.

John Peck dominated Lake County. He went 14 for 29 with two doubles, a home run, 7 RBIs and 11 runs scored. His hitting has really picked up over the last few weeks. His batting average has risen from .266 on June 12 to .308 following Sunday’s win.

Peyton Graham continued his hot June. For the month, the lanky infielder is hitting .333 with a .400 OBP and 17 RBIs. He went 8 for 22 against the Captains and homered in three straight games.

Saturday’s big win is largely in part to an epic two-out rally that scored nine runs in the second inning. The first two batters struck out before the next nine reached base and all scored.

Seth Stephenson scored on a Peck Double. Max Clark brought him in with an RBI single. Josue Briceno hit a double off of the right field wall to score Clark. Graham walked before Izaac Pacheco singled to score Briceno. Luke Gold reached on a fielding error, and then Patrick Lee drove a ball to right field to bring in Pacheco and Gold. Lee stole two bases before Bennett Lee cleared the right-center field fence to put an exclamation point on the inning.

The 21 runs tied the franchise’s record for most in a game, set in a 21-10 win against the Dayton Dragons on Aug. 8, 2010.

‘BIG THREE’ UPDATE

Speaking of the Big Three, Clark continues to be an on-base machine. The speedy outfielder went 9 for 22 with a double, one home run, 3 RBIs and five walks in five games last week. He has shown some pop in his bat (6 homers so far this season), but his .426 on-base percentage is proof that the 20-year-old isn’t having any problem transitioning to professional baseball.

It was another solid week for Kevin McGonigle. The second-round pick went 8 for 27 last week with a double, two home runs, 8 RBIs and a pair of walks. There’s still a bit of sample-size error baked into his stats — a .357 batting average and .440 OBP through 143 at-bats — but there’s no denying he’s already comfortable at the High-A level.

Of the three, Briceno had the quietest week — quiet in the sense that he didn’t smash any moonshot home runs. He did go 7 for 22 with two doubles, six RBIs and 4 walks. The Venezuelan catching prospect continues to get some time at first base and is showing why MLB Pipeline was so quick to add him to their Top 100 Prospects list.

POSSIBLE PACHECO INJURY

There was one blemish on Saturday’s rout: third baseman Izaac Pacheco left the game with an ankle injury. He appeared to injure his ankle while running the bases. He stayed in the game at the time but was replaced by McGonigle in the next inning.

Baseball America’s Emily Waldon reports Pacheco is still being evaluated and the team has not made any announcement on whether the 22-year-old will miss time.

The Texas native has made some real progress this season. Now in his fourth season with the Whitecaps, he has hit for average and with some power this year. Through 53 games, Pacheco is hitting .275 with a .401 OBP, six home runs and 33 RBIs.

UP NEXT

The Whitecaps will look to keep things rolling. The Great Lakes Loons (38-36, 4-5) will come to LMCU Ballpark for three games starting on Tuesday before the series moves to Midland for the weekend.