MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Eighth-Inning Outburst Lifts Bowling Green over Dragons

Published on June 30, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, Ohio-Keith Castillo's bloop single to shallow right field brought in three runs to break a 3-3 tie with two outs in the eighth inning to lift the Bowling Green Hot Rods to a 6-5 victory over the Dayton Dragons on Thursday night. A crowd of 8,454 saw the Dragons 812th consecutive sell-out at Fifth Third Field, two short of the all-time sports record.

Castillo's hit spoiled a comeback bid by the Dragons. Bowling Green led 3-0 in the sixth inning when Dayton's Yorman Rodriguez started a rally with a double to center field. One batter later, Frank Pfister singled in Rodriguez to make it 3-1, and with two outs, Tucker Barnhart drilled a two-run home run to right field to tie the game at 3-3.

In the Bowling Green half of the eighth, Steve Tinoco reached on an infield single before Dragons reliever Luca Panerati issued back-to-back walks to load the bases. Castillo followed with a fly ball toward the right field foul line that fell just beyond the reach of Dragons first baseman Donald Lutz as he raced into shallow right field. Three runs scored on the play to give Bowling Green a 6-3 lead.

The Dragons rallied in the bottom of the eighth when Lutz and Pfister opened the inning with a pair of singles. With one out, Barnhart reached on an error to load the bases, and Jefry Sierra's infield single brought in Lutz to make it 6-4. Billy Hamilton's infield ground out scored Pfister to pull Dayton to within a run at 6-5 with two outs, but Ronald Torreyes grounded out to third to end the inning with two men in scoring position. The Dragons went out in order in the ninth to end the game.

Dragons starting pitcher Kyle Lotzkar worked seven innings, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) with one walk and seven strikeouts. He was not involved in the decision. Panerati (1-1) pitched one inning of relief and allowed three runs to suffer the loss.

Dayton finished with 10 hits. Lutz and Pfister each had two.

The Dragons (4-3, 39-38) will host Bowling Green (4-3, 45-32) on Friday at Fifth Third Field at 7:00 p.m. in the second game of a three-game series. Josh Smith (7-3, 1.97) will start for Dayton. The game will be televised on WHIO Digital Channel 7.2 (Time Warner Channel 23). Former Reds Assistant Director of Player Development Grant Griesser will provide color commentary.

The Dragons are in position to tie the all-time sports record for consecutive sell-outs on Saturday night and break the record on July 9. The record is held by the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association.

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Midwest League Stories from June 30, 2011


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