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Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

April 21, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Game # 11

Fifth Third Field l Dayton, Ohio l 7:00 p.m. (EDT)

Radio: 1410 ESPN Radio WING-AM

Great Lakes Loons (6-4) at Dayton Dragons (1-9)

RH JonMichael Redding (1-1, 4.66) vs. LH Matt Fairel (0-1, 4.70)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Loons (affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) in the first game of a four game series. 2009 Season Series (all in Dayton): Great Lakes 2, Dayton 2.

Last Game: Fort Wayne defeated Dayton 14-2 on Sunday in a game shortened by rain to eight innings. Fort Wayne scored seven runs in the second inning and built a 14-0 lead over the first five innings. Tony Brown hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth for Dayton to account for the Dragons runs. Byron Wiley went 3 for 3 for Dayton to lead an eight-hit attack. Dragons pitched walked 11 batters in seven innings in the game. David Sappelt went 1 for 4 to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games.

Today's Starting Pitcher: Matt Fairel makes his third professional start tonight. He was the Dragons opening night starter Thursday vs. Great Lakes and JonMichael Redding and suffered the loss (2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO). He made his second start Wednesday at Peoria and did not get a decision (5.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO). Fairel was selected by the Reds in the 35th round in June, 2008 but did not sign in time to play professionally last summer. Fairel was drafted after his sophomore year at Florida State University and did not have a redshirt year but was eligible to be drafted because he turned 21 years old within 30 days of the draft. Fairel enjoyed a great college season last spring at Florida State, posting a record of 12-2 to finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference in victories. He was honored as a 2nd Team All-Conference choice and was also named Academic All-Conference. Fairel is a native of Winter Haven, Florida.

Skipper: Todd Benzinger makes his professional baseball managerial debut in 2009. Benzinger enjoyed a nine-year major league playing career from 1987-1995 with the Reds, Red Sox, Royals, Dodgers, and Giants. Todd is a former first baseman who recorded the final putout of the 1990 World Series with the Reds to complete their four-game sweep of the Oakland A's. Benzinger is a native of the Cincinnati area and currently resides in West Chester, Ohio. He has enjoyed a highly successful career coaching girls' high school basketball since 1999.

Individual Notes

- David Sappelt has hit in seven straight games and nine of the 10 games on the year. He is tied for the league lead in hits with 13.

- Sappelt is tied for the league lead in stolen bases with six. He has not been thrown out this season on the bases.

- Kevin Coddington led the Dragons offensively on the road trip by going 7 for 14, .500. Byron Wiley hit .400 on the trip, going 6 for 15.

- In the most recent series at Fort Wayne, Coddington and Wiley both went 5 for 11, .455. Humberto Sosa went 4 for 14, .286. Sappelt went 5 for 18, .278. Both Cody Puckett and Tony Brown delivered home runs in the Fort Wayne series. Sappelt has the other Dragons HR this season.

- On the mound on the road trip, starting pitchers Matt Fairel (5.2 IP, 1 R) and Lance Janke (5 IP, 1 R) and reliever Jordan Hotchkiss (5 IP, 1 R) enjoyed the most success.

- Sappelt and Sosa are the only Dragons to start all 10 games.

- Five of Kyle Day's seven hits have gone for extra bases (three doubles, two triples).

- Dragons outfielder Tyler Stovall is a product of Moeller High School in Cincinnati. Stovall was the 2007 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year at Central Michigan University...Outfielder David Sappelt was a 2008 semi-finalist for the Golden Spikes Award (best player in college baseball). He was the 2007 Big South Player of the Year at Coastal Carolina University...Third baseman Frank Pfister was the 2008 University Athletic Association Most Valuable Player at Emory University in Georgia. He hit .379 at Emory last season and posted the 16th highest hits total in NCAA Division III history.

Team Notes

- The Dragons hope to end an eight game losing streak tonight. They have led five of the eight losses by at least two runs. The club record for consecutive losses is nine. The Dragons only victory this season was a 6-1 win over Great Lakes the second day of the season, Friday, April 10th.

- The Dragons have scored the first run of the game in five of their 10 contests this season.

- Dayton went 0-7 on their Peoria/Fort Wayne road trip that ended Sunday.

- The Dragons bullpen went 0-3 on the trip with a 7.04 ERA.

- Midwest League pitchers have been ahead of the hitters in the cool weather so far in 2009. While the Dragons are batting just .227 as a team, three MWL teams are hitting below .200 and six teams are hitting .219 or lower.

- The Dragons Opening roster includes seven players who have previously played for the club. Pitcher Curtis Partch spent the entire 2008 season with the Dragons while pitchers Andrew Bowman, Aguido Gonzalez, Josh Ravin, and Mace Thurman; infielder Humberto Sosa, and outfielder Brandon Menchaca all spent parts of the '08 season with the Dragons. Partch, Bowman, and Menchaca were all on the Dragons 2008 Opening Night roster. Partch, Menchaca, Gonzalez, and Thurman were all members of the Dragons 2008 playoff roster.

- The Dragons roster includes 20 players who played last season with the Billings Mustangs, the Reds Rookie-level affiliate. The Billings team posted a record of 42-32 and won both the first half and second half North Division titles in the Pioneer League.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Wednesday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Josh Ravin (1-1, 3.60) vs. Great Lakes RH Bobby Blevins (0-1, 5.19)

Thursday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Curtis Partch (0-1, 4.82) vs. Great Lakes RH Ethan Martin (2-0, 0.90)

Friday (7:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Leonardo Astorga (0-2, 21.00) vs. Great Lakes RH Justin Miller (1-1, 2.84)

Television: Friday's game will be televised on WHIO Digital Channel 7.2 (Time Warner cable channel 708). Tom Nichols handles play-by-play and former Reds infielder Chris Sexton provides color commentary.

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Midwest League Stories from April 21, 2009


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