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Hawks Win in Extras, Take Wild Card Lead

September 4, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


Dayton, OH - South Bend scored four times in the top of the tenth inning, rallying to beat the Dayton Dragons 6-2 on Friday night. With the win, the Silver Hawks have jumped ahead of Dayton in the wild card standings, leading by one-half game in the final weekend of the season.

In addition to the wild card lead, the win on Friday means the Silver Hawks hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Dayton, winning the season series eight games to seven. Thus, the magic number is two for South Bend, so any combination of a South Bend win or a Dayton loss totaling up to two will clinch the final playoff spot for the Hawks.

Tied at two entering the top of the tenth, the Dayton Dragons tried to get another inning out of reliever Donnie Joseph (LP, 2-2). Joseph had thrown 2.2 scoreless innings, but showed signs of tiring by walking two in the ninth.

Alberto Diaz led off the tenth with a single, Jake Elmore walked, and A.J. Pollock singled to load the bases with nobody out. Reynaldo Navarro walked to force in a run, giving the Silver Hawks a 3-2 lead and ending the night of Joseph. Mark James (ND) came in, but allowed a RBI single to Ryan Wheeler to make it 4-2, and a two run single by Justin Parker made it 6-2.

Bryan Woodall (WP, 2-2) tossed 3.0 perfect innings for the Silver Hawks from the 7th through the 9th to earn the win, striking out four of the nine batters he faced. Justin Mace (ND) set down the Dragons in order in the bottom of the 10th to wrap up the win.

Wheeler gave South Bend the early lead, blasting his first home run for the Hawks to lead off the second inning against Dayton starter Chase Ware (ND). Wheeler, a fifth round pick from Loyola Marymount University this June, has now homered six times in his career, including five with Yakima before being promoted to South Bend.

Dayton came back with two runs against South Bend starter Eric Smith (ND) in the bottom of the third to take the lead. Smith hit Josh Fellhauer to start the inning, and a ground out moved Fellhauer to second. Byron Wiley brought home Fellhauer with a single to right, tying the game at one. A wild pitch moved Wiley to second and an error got him to third. Carlos Mendez had a sacrifice fly, putting the Dragons in front 2-1.

Elmore led off the sixth inning with a single, but was erased at second on a fielder's choice from Pollock. Navarro singled to left, extending his hitting streak to a career high 11 games and putting runners at the corners. Alfredo Marte followed with a two-strike single to center, scoring Pollock to tie the game at 2-2. With first and third and one out, Wheeler bounced into a double play ending the inning, but the Silver Hawks had tied it at two.

After an off day Saturday, the Silver Hawks return home to Coveleski Stadium on Sunday afternoon against the Lansing Lugnuts with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00 PM Eastern Time. RHP Ryan Cook (11-10, 3.33 ERA) will start for South Bend against Lansing's LHP John Anderson (3-6, 4.19 ERA). Pregame coverage begins at 1:40 PM Eastern Time on 1620 ESPN Radio and online at www.silverhawks.com.



Midwest League Stories from September 4, 2009


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