(Oconomowoc, WI) After 257 days, the Gary SouthShore RailCats were back in action to start the 2026 season against the East Division Regular Season Champions from the year prior, the Lake Country DockHounds.
Deyni Olivero started his second straight opening day for the RailCats and in the second inning Joshua Mears hit a lead-off home run to make it 1-0. The next inning Lake Country would send up 12 batters to the plate and chase out Olivero with Dom Johnson, Mears and Zimmerman all hitting home runs to make the score 8-0.
Matt Reitz would pitch long relief for Gary and in 3.2 innings allowed no runs. Luke Hansel, the starter for Lake Country, retired the first 14 batters he faced until Cooper Weiss worked a walk for the first baserunner. In the top of the sixth, Elvis Peralta singled in two runners and Cooper Edwards earned a bases loaded walk to make it 8-3. The next inning, Jake Guenther’s second hit was a solo home run over the right field wall to make it 8-4.
Lake Country would silence any sort of RailCats comeback in the seventh with yet again using the home run ball to their advantage. This time it was Julio Carreras and Jack Blomgren running the home run total tonight to six for the DockHounds. The final was 12-4.
The RailCats continue the series at DockHounds ballpark tomorrow night at 6:35 PM. Peyton Long(20 GS, 3.87 ERA) will make the start for Gary and he will be matched up against Connor Fenlong(22 G, 6 GS, 2.15 ERA). The livestream will be provided on AABaseball.TV.
The RailCats return home next week on May 22 for a nine-game homestand that features a lot of fun giveaways and theme nights. You can check them out on www.RailCatsBaseball.com or Tixr.com/RailCats.
