Briceno's 9th Inning Grand Slam Lifts Whitecaps Past Dragons, 7-4

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MWL Dayton Dragons

Briceno's 9th Inning Grand Slam Lifts Whitecaps Past Dragons, 7-4

May 31, 2025 - Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, Ohio - West Michigan's Josue Briceno blasted a grand slam home run with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Whitecaps to a 7-4 victory over the Dayton Dragons on Saturday night.

A crowd of 8,254 was in attendance at Day Air Ballpark.

The Dragons broke a 3-3 tie with a run in the sixth inning and took a 4-3 lead to the ninth before Briceno's heroics.

Game Summary:

The Dragons scored the first run of the game when Carlos Jorge led off the bottom of the second inning with a long home run to right field, his fourth homer of the year.

View Jorge's home run here: https://twitter.com/DragonsBaseball/status/1928964159951040766

West Michigan responded with three runs on four hits in the top of the third as they jumped ahead 3-1.

The Dragons started back in the bottom of the third. Victor Acosta was hit by a pitch and scored from first base on a double to right field by Leo Balcazar to make it 3-2. The Dragons tied the game in the fourth when Jorge singled, went to second on a ground out, stole third, and scored on John Michael Faile's single to make it 3-3.

In the sixth, Dayton's Ariel Almonte doubled to left field with one out. After back-to-back walks loaded the bases, Connor Burns delivered a deep sacrifice fly to center that drove in Almonte and gave Dayton a 4-3 lead.

Dayton starting pitcher Jose Montero allowed three runs in four innings before relievers Thomas Farr and Carson Rudd followed with two scoreless innings each to get the Dragons to the ninth.

Dayton reliever Cody Adcock retired the first two batters in the ninth before issuing a two-out walk. Seth Stephenson followed with a ground ball to third that was mishandled by Dayton's Carter Graham and ruled an error. Kevin McGonigle walked on four pitches, and Josue Briceno followed by hitting the first pitch over the right field fence for a grand slam to give West Michigan a 7-4 lead and close out the scoring. Briceno was coming off his most recent game on Thursday when he connected on three home runs to tie a West Michigan club record.

The Dragons collected nine hits in the game. Jorge and Balcazar each had two.

Up Next: The Dragons (17-33) host West Michigan (35-15) in the last game of a six-game series at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District on Sunday at 1:05 pm. Nestor Lorant (0-1, 5.51) will start for Dayton. For ticket information, go to daytondragons.com/tickets.

On the Air: All Dragons home and road games are broadcast on radio on FOX Sports 980 AM WONE. Games can be heard on smart phones, iPads, and other mobile devices via the free Dragons Mobile App, or on a computer at wone.com. Games are also available on HD Radio on 104.7 WTUI HD 2.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics



Midwest League Stories from May 31, 2025


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