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Devil Rays and Dragons Split Double-Header

August 25, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Southwest Michigan Devil Rays News Release


The Southwest Michigan Devil Rays and the Dayton Dragons met on Friday Night at C.O. Brown Stadium to play a double-header to make up for Thursday's rainout. The first of the two games showcased two of the rising stars in the MWL, pitchers Wade Davis and Travis Wood.

The first game was a classic pitchers duel as the two starters gave up a combined five hits. The game was deadlocked with no score at the end of the scheduled seven innings.

Wade Davis tossed the first six innings for the Devil Rays. He allowed three hits and didn't walk a single batter. In the sixth inning, Davis struck out his eighth batter of the night and tied the franchise record for strikeouts in a single season with 158. The nine year old record was set by Robb Welch in 1997.

Travis Wood pitched seven innings for the Dragons and allowed a mere two hits. Wood fanned five and walked three.

Eddie DeLaCruz entered in the seventh in relief of Davis. DeLaCruz fanned one batter in his one inning of work. Aaron Walker came in and tossed the eighth and ninth innings. Walker struck out three and walked two in his outing. He gave up three hits and the Dragons reached him for an earned run in the top of the ninth.

In the bottom of the ninth the Rays led off with a Jackson Brennan walk. Neil Walton followed up by flying out to right field. Cesar Suarez then walked which moved Brennan to second. J.T. Hall took the plate and doubled to right field scoring Brennan and the first baseman Habelito Hernandez attempted to throw him out at home but the tossed sailed over the head of the catcher. Suarez took advantage of the situation and raced home for the winning run.

The second game of the double-header was eerily similar to the first game. This time the pitchers duel was between Carlos Fisher and Mike Wlodarczyk.

Wlodarczyk is coming off of an amazing no-hit performance against Peoria. In game two he tossed the first six innings and gave up only three hits. Woody struck out seven and walked a batter. The Dragons put up on earned run in the second inning to give them the lead and it happened to be the only run in the game.

Carlos Fisher for the Dragons was unstoppable. In five innings of work he allowed two hits and struck out ten D-Rays.

Greg Dupas hurled the seventh inning for the Rays. Dupas, who was recently named to the Midwest League Post-Season All-Star Team, saw his first action since August 6th. Dupas showed a little rust as he hit the first batter he faced. He eventually settled down and retired the next three Dragons.

Cesar Suarez went 2-3 with a double. J.T. Hall had the other hit in the ballgame for the Rays. Both Suarez and Hall were honored prior to the second game as the two leading homerun hitters at C.O. Brown. HBC Contracting awarded them with Best Buy gift certificates but more importantly HBC donated $5,000 to cancer care and research as a part of the "HBC Clear the Fence for Cancer" promotion.

The Rays and Dragons will square off again on Saturday at 7:05pm at C.O. Brown Stadium. The world famous mascot, Rally, will make his third trip to Battle Creek this season. Rally will perform between innings and he will interact with the kids throughout the game in the stands and concourse. Following the game "If All Else Fails" will be performing live music in the TDS Metrocom Left Field Bar. 95.3 WBXX and The Greater Guide of Southwest Michigan are Saturday's sponsors.

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Midwest League Stories from August 25, 2006


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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