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Hawks Late Rally Falls Short

September 2, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


Dayton, OH - With a 8-6 win over South Bend on Wednesday night, the Dayton Dragons have closed to within a half game in the chase for the second half wild card spot in the Midwest League's Eastern Division. Trailing by six entering the ninth, South Bend scored four times but left the tying run on base in dropping the series opener.

South Bend's magic number to wrap up the playoff spot remains at five, although if the Silver Hawks can take the final two games of the series, they would clinch the spot because of the tiebreaker.

Trailing 8-2 entering the ninth, the Silver Hawks scored four times against Dayton reliever Scott Gaffney (ND) to make the game interesting again. Jake Elmore, Reynaldo Navarro, and Ryan Wheeler each had RBIs for South Bend in the inning, and the Hawks had the tying run on base with two outs. Donnie Joseph (SV, 4) was brought in from the bullpen, and he struck out pinch hitter Victor Estevez to end the threat and the game.

South Bend had missed some opportunities early in the game, leaving runners on in critical situations. Down 4-0 in the fifth, South Bend scored a run on back-to-back doubles by Clayton Conner and Alberto Diaz. After Elmore singled and moved to second on a throw home, the Hawks had second and third with nobody out, but failed to score again in the inning.

Down 8-1 in the eighth inning, the Hawks again missed an opportunity to draw closer. After scoring a run on three straight hits to make it 8-2, the Hawks had them at the corners with nobody out. However, a strikeout and a double play ended the threat without further damage being done.

Dayton raced out to a big lead early on South Bend starter Brett Moorhouse (LP, 5-14). Moorhouse allowed five runs (four earned) over 5.0 innings in suffering his league leading 14th defeat. Kevin Coddington homered against Moorhouse in the fifth inning, with Tony Brown and Miguel Rojas each having RBI doubles as Dayton's offensive highlights.

The Dragons tacked up more runs against reliever Jordan Meaker (ND). Meaker gave up three runs on three hits and three walks in the sixth, with Brown and Coddington each picking up another RBI.

Dayton starter Mark Serrano (WP, 3-1) set the tone early, striking out eight in 5.2 innings, allowing just one run.

The Silver Hawks and Dragons continue the important playoff positioning series with game two Thursday night at 7:00 PM Eastern Time. RHP Randy Rodriguez (5-10, 5.60 ERA) will start for South Bend against Dayton's RHP J.C. Sulbaran (4-5, 5.30 ERA). Pregame coverage begins at 6:40 PM Eastern Time on 1620 ESPN Radio and online at www.silverhawks.com.



Midwest League Stories from September 2, 2009


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