Hawks Freeze out Dragons, Sweep Double Header

Published on April 22, 2014 under Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


The South Bend Silver Hawks swept the Dayton Dragons in a twi-night double-header at Four Winds Field on Tuesday night thanks to a pair of strong outings from Hawks starting pitchers. Aaron Blair earned the complete game victory in Game 1 as the Hawks won 5-2 while Brad Allen went 5 solid innings for the win in a 8-4 Hawks win in Game 2. The two wins extended the Hawks winning streak to seven games and slowed down a hot Dayton club that had won 9 of its last 10 games coming into the day.

Game 1

The South Bend Silver Hawks (10-7) continued their winning streak in Game 1 of Tuesday night's double-header at Four Winds Field with a 5-2 win over the Dayton Dragons (11-5). Aaron Blair (1-1) tossed a complete game 4-hitter, allowing just one earned run and striking out 6 batters for the Hawks. Designated hitter Stryker Trahan provided the offense, going 2-for-3 with 3 RBIs on the night.

The Dragons, the Class-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the first inning. Centerfielder Beau Amaral led off the game with a fly ball single to center. Shortstop Carlton Daal hit a ground ball to short that could have been a double play but the throw pulled the second baseman off the bag and the Dragons had runners at first and second with no outs. Right fielder Jeff Gelalich dropped down a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher but Blair was unable to field it cleanly and everyone was safe, loading the bases with no outs. Left fielder Phillip Ervin grounded out to second, advancing all the runners and scoring Amaral from third for a 1-0 Dragons lead. Blair walked first baseman Sebastian Elizalbe to reload the bases but settled down after that, retiring the last two batters of the inning without allowing another runner to score.

South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, tied the game up in the bottom of the first. With one out, second baseman Jamie Westbrook doubled to right. Trahan followed with a line drive single to center that tied the game at 1-1. The score remained tied until the bottom of the fourth inning when the Hawks plated two runs to take a 3-1 lead. With two outs and left fielder Chuck Taylor on second, centerfielder Breland Almadova lined an RBI single to center. Shortstop Andrew Velazquez followed with a fly ball triple to center that scored Almadova and gave the Hawks the 3-1 advantage.

The Hawks extended their lead in the bottom of the sixth. Right fielder Zach Esquerra led off the inning with a single to left field. After Almadova struck out swinging, Velazquez reached on an E-5 fielding, putting runners at first and second. Westbrook then hit a grounder to the right side on a hit-and-run that looked to be through the hole but it hit Velazquez on the hip, forcing him out and leaving runners at first and second, now with two outs. Trahan came through at the plate again for the Hawks as he laced a two-run double to center that gave the Hawks a 4-run lead going into the final frame.

Blair came out to finish the game and despite surrendering a run in the seventh, finished the game with a dominating performance in the 5-2 complete game win. After a leadoff double and an infield single, a groundout to first scored the second run of the game for the Dragons. Blair than got Daal to take a called third strike to end the game and send the teams back to the clubhouse to get ready for Game 2.

Game 2

South Bend (11-7) took the nightcap of the double-header against Dayton (11-6) behind another solid starting performance by Brad Allen (3-0). The Hawks also got a big offensive contribution from right fielder Zach Esquerra who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI, a walk, and a stolen base.

The Hawks offense picked up right where it left off in Game 1 by plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. First baseman George Roberts hit a one out double into the left-center field gap. Esquerra walked and with Almadova at the plate, Roberts and Esquerra pulled off a double steal. Almadova then bounded a single over the third baseman and into left field to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Catcher BJ Lopez stepped up to the plate for his first at bat with the Silver Hawks and grounded a single through the right side to stretch the lead to 2-0. South Bend had a chance to score more runs in the inning but Almadova was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on Velazquez's single to shallow left to end the inning.

Allen kept the Dragons off the board through the first three innings but allowed two runs to tie the game in the top of the fourth. Daal led off the inning with a line drive single to center for Dayton's first hit of the game. First baseman Daniel Mateo grounded out to first for the first out of the inning, advancing Daal to second. Left fielder Phillip Ervin flew out to deep right, moving Daal to third with two outs. Elizalde then pounced on the first pitch he saw for a long two-run homer over the right-center field fence that tied the game at 2-2.

South Bend struck back immediately in the bottom of the inning with a pair of runs of their own to take a 4-2 lead. Esquerra led off the inning with a line drive single to center. Almadova then bunted him over to second. With Lopez at the plate, Esquerra moved over to third on a wild pitch and then scored later in the at-bat on a balk to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead. After third baseman Josh Parr flew out to center field, the Hawks scored their fourth run when the Dragons started throwing the ball all over the place. Lopez stole second and went to third when the throw from the catcher eluded the shortstop and went into center field. Elizalde picked up the ball in center and tried to throw Lopez out at third but the ball hit Lopez in the head and bounded toward the dugout as Lopez scampered home.

The Hawks tacked on another pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Reliever Pedro Diaz (0-1) surrendered back-to-back one-out singles to Taylor and Palka before being replaced by Evan Mitchell. Mitchell walked Roberts to load the bases and then gave up an RBI single to left by Esquerra. With the bases still loaded, Almadova hit a high chopper back to the mound that left the pitcher only able to get the out at first, scoring the 6th Hawks run of the game.

Jose Jose entered in relief of Allen to start the sixth inning. He gave up a leadoff single to Daal. After striking out Mateo, Jose walked Ervin and struck out Elizalde for the second out of the inning. Third baseman Tanner Rahier laced a two-run double to right that cut the lead to 6-4. Jose then struck out designated hitter Sean Buckley to end the inning with the Hawks ahead by a pair.

The Hawks once again got the runs back with a two-spot in the bottom of the sixth inning. Parr led off the inning with a ground-ball single through the right side. Velazquez grounded out to third, advancing the runner to second. Westbrook then laced a single to center that scored Parr. Taylor followed with a single to center to put runners at the corners with one out. Palka drove the ball to deep left for a sacrifice fly that scored Westbrook and placed the sixth two-spot of the game on the scoreboard as all the runs came in pairs. JR Bradley came in and closed out the game with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh inning for the Hawks.

The Hawks and Dragons continue their series Wednesday night at 7:05pm. Ismael Guillon (1-0, 1.65 ERA) takes the mound for the Dragons while Adam Miller (1-0, 1.42 ERA) gets the ball for the Hawks. It's Kids Eat Free Wednesday at Four Winds Field as kids 12 and under will get a voucher at the gate for a free hot dog, chips, and a drink.

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Midwest League Stories from April 22, 2014


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