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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

May 1, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, May 1, 2009 Game # 21

Pohlman Field l Beloit, Wis. l Ć 7:30 p.m.

Radio: 1410 ESPN Radio WING-AM

Dayton Dragons (5-15) at Beloit Snappers (7-12)

RH J.C. Sulbaran (pro debut) vs. RH Shooter Hunt (0-1, 10.80)

Today¡¦s Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Snappers (affiliate of the Minnesota Twins) in the rubber match of a three game series. Current Road Trip for Dayton: 3-3 (split four games in South Bend Saturday-Tuesday).

Last Game: Beloit topped Dayton 6-4 on Thursday. Evan Bigley¡¦s two-run double in the fourth inning broke a 3-3 tie and Beloit relievers Steve Blevins, Bruce Pugh, and Matt Williams combined to allow just one run over the final six innings. Dayton finished with eight hits. Frank Pfister had two hits including an RBI double. Carlos Mendez had two hits and an RBI. Kevin Coddington also had two hits. The two clubs have split the first two games in the series.

Today¡¦s Dragons Starting Pitcher: J.C. Sulbaran makes his professional baseball debut tonight for Dayton. He has been in extended spring training in Sarasota due to a blister problem on his right (pitching) hand. Sulbaran has pitched in some big international games. He appeared in two games for Team Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and started a game for the Netherlands in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing against Cuba. Sulbaran moved from the island of Curacao in the Caribbean to the Miami area with his family at age 16 to further baseball career. He was honored as the Miami-area pitcher of the year in 2008, going 11-0, 1.40. He fell to the 30th round of the 2008 draft due to his commitment to the University of Florida but the Reds eventually signed him with a $500,000 bonus, a record for that round. He was voted the best pitcher in the 2004 Latin American Youth Baseball Tournament while playing for the Netherlands Antilles. He was rated by Baseball America as the 20th best prospect in Reds organization prior to 2009 season. His high school teammates included first baseman Eric Hosmer, who was selected with the third pick in the first round of the 2008 draft by the Kansas City Royals, and catcher Adrian Nieto, taken in the fifth round by the Washington Nationals.

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

¡P Cody Puckett has hit three home runs in his last seven games and is tied for the league lead with four.

¡P Kevin Coddington is 16 for 36, .444 over his last 10 games, raising his batting average to .400.

¡P Carlos Mendez is 9 for 22, .409 in the six games he has played since joining the club last Friday.

¡P Dave Sappelt has hit in five straight games, going 8 for 20, .400, raising his batting average to .300. Sappelt is tied for second in the league in base hits and tied for third in stolen bases. He leads the league in at-bats.

¡P Frank Pfister is 8 for 24, .333 over his last seven games, raising his batting average from .143 to .244.

¡P Kyle Day is 6 for 21, .286 with seven walks and a .464 on-base percentage over his last seven games.

¡P Humberto Sosa has four doubles in his last five games and is tied for second in the league in doubles on the year with eight.

Honors: Dayton starting pitcher Matt Fairel has been named MWL Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 20-26. Fairel went 1-0 with a 1.38 earned run average (13 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 20 SO).

Team Notes

¡P With a win tonight, the Dragons will earn their first series victory of the season by winning this three-game set in Beloit.

¡P Dayton has won four of their last seven games after starting the season at 1-12.

¡P In the three Dragons wins on this road trip, the opponent has combined to score a total of five runs.

¡P The Dragons have hit five home runs in their last eight games after hitting two in their first 12 games.

¡P The Dragons are batting .257 as a team over their last 12 games after batting .222 over their first eight games.

¡P Six of the Dragons¡¦ 15 losses have come by one run. However, six losses have come by at least six runs including three losses by at least 10 runs.

¡P The Dragons have led by at least two runs in six of their 15 losses.

¡P The Dragons current roster includes six players who have previously played for the club. They are pitchers Curtis Partch, Andrew Bowman, Aguido Gonzalez, Josh Ravin, and Mace Thurman; and infielder Humberto Sosa.

¡P 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)

Saturday (4:05 p.m.): Dayton LH Matt Fairel (1-1, 2.61) at Fort Wayne LH Nick Schmidt (1-0, 5.94)

Sunday (3:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Josh Ravin (1-2, 4.50) at Fort Wayne RH Simon Castro (0-1, 4.32)

Monday (7:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Curtis Partch (1-2, 7.27) at Fort Wayne LH Rob Musgrave (1-1, 5.50)

Transactions: Outfielder Tony Brown has been activated from the disabled list. Outfielder Brandon Menchaca has been removed from the roster with an assignment to be determined.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics



Midwest League Stories from May 1, 2009


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