MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Home run derby at Fifth Third Field

Published on August 3, 2005 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, OH - Wednesday night at Fifth Third Field the ball was flying out of the park, literally. The Dayton Dragons (16-24, 46-64) and Fort Wayne Wizards (16-24, 54-56) combined for nine home runs on the night. Peter Ciofrone of the Wizards hit a pair of homers and appeared to have hit a third, a first inning shot that was ruled a live ball by the umpires, as the visitors evened the series up at one game a side with a 13-8 win in front of 8,043.

A 10 mile per hour wind out to right center field gave the ball lift as both starters surrendered dingers in the first inning. Sean Kazmar took the Dragons Joe Wilson (L, 2-2) out to left with a line drive two run shot for a 2-0 Wizards lead. Ciofrone followed with a drive to right center that appeared to clear the wall and bounce back onto the playing surface. The ball however was ruled in play and Ciofrone ended up at second base with a double. Dayton evened the score at 2-2 in the bottom half of the inning off Jon Ellis (W, 5-1) with a pair of solo homers. Adam Rosales took Ellis yard with a blast to deep left center to cut the lead to 2-1. B.J. Szymanski gave the Dragons back-to-back homers with a towering drive to right center for his 10th of the season and a 2-2 tie.

Fort Wayne broke the game open with four in the third inning and three more in the fourth. Ciofrone hit his first of two on the night with a solo shot to right center and two batters later, following a Matt Lauderdale double, Mike Baxter took Wilson out to center off the batters eye for a two run blast and a 5-2 FW lead. Tom Vincent picked up an RBI double to close out the third at 6-2 Wizards. Jared Sanders (ND) was touched for a two run homer by Ciofrone in the fourth to extend the visitor's lead to 8-2. An unearned run off the Dayton reliever pushed the advantage up to seven at 9-2.

The Dragons staged a comeback in the home half of the sixth inning off Ellis and reliever Geivy Garcia (ND). With one down, Jeremiah Piepkorn hammered an Ellis pitch deep to left for a solo homer, his team leading 14th of the season. Exit Ellis and enter Garcia, who walked the first batter he faced. Chris Kroski drove the second Dragons run home with an RBI double to center to cut the lead to 9-4. A walk to Jorge Mejia followed the double to put runners at first and second for Drew Anderson. Anderson tagged a Garcia offering down the line in right for a three run homer and Dayton was within a pair of runs at 9-7.

The Dragons defense suffered a lapse in the top of the seventh as reliever Juan Frias (ND) gave up three runs, two of which were unearned. Ciofrone picked up his fourth RBI on the night with a single to center that scored Josh Alley, who reached on a Frias error to start the inning. The error and a wild pitch aided the Wizards cause as Lauderdale's RBI single scored the second run for an 11-7 lead. A double play ball plated the final run of the inning before the Dragons closed out the frame trailing 11-7.

The teams traded runs in the ninth inning, as Fort Wayne hit its fifth homer of the night, a lead off shot by Lauderdale off Brad Cherry (ND). Dayton picked up a run to close out the game at 13-8 in the home half of the ninth inning on a pair of Wizards errors.

The Dragons and Wizards play game three of the four game series Thursday night at Fifth Third Field with a 7:00 P.M. first pitch. RHP Carlos Bohorquez gets the ball for Dayton while Fort Wayne will counter with LHP Chris Stienborn. The game can be heard on radio at ESPN Radio 1410-AM and on the Internet at www.daytondragons.com, with the pre-game show beginning at 6:30 pm.

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