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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Silver Hawks Take Three of Four from Dayton with 7-0 Win

April 9, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, OH - The South Bend Silver Hawks (3-1) and Dayton Dragons (1-3) were locked in a pitcher's duel through eight innings on Sunday afternoon. The Silver Hawks picked up four hits and took advantage of two Dragons errors in the top of the ninth inning, hanging a seven spot on the Miami Valley's team for a 7-0 win in front of 7,690 at Fifth Third Field. The win enabled South Bend to take three of four games in the opening series of the 2006 season.

Zach Ward (ND) made his professional debut Sunday, getting the start for the Dragons. Ward, the Cincinnati Reds third round selection in the 2005 First Year Player Draft, was impressive in his 6.0 innings of work. The right hander struck out two and walked three, allowing only a third and a fifth inning single before being lifted to begin the seventh. South Bend starter Cody Evans was equally impressive, limiting the Dragons to four hits on the afternoon, with four strikeouts and zero walks before being lifted in favor of Kyle Wright (ND) to start the seventh.

Both bullpens picked up the torch for their respective teams as the duel shutouts carried through to the ninth. Russell Haltiwanger (ND) threw 2.0 innings of shutout baseball for the Dragons, retiring the first four Silver Hawks hitters he faced before a one out walk to Steve Mena in the eighth inning. Chris Denove erased the walk throwing out Mena trying to swipe second. Wright gave up a two out double to Craig Tatum in the seventh but got out of the jam, retiring Eric Eymann on a grounder to short to end the inning.

The Dragons suffered a defensive breakdown in the top of the ninth inning, allowing a seven spot to the Silver Hawks to give the visitors a 7-0 lead. Andy Weimer (LP, 0-1) began the inning retiring Ricardo Cruz on a grounder. A bunt single by Pedro Ciriaco with one down got the rally started. South Bend put runners at second and third after Gerardo Cabrera misplayed a fly ball to left field by Leyson Septimo. The Dragons then elected to intentionally walk Trey Hendricks to load the bases. Weimer walked home the first run of the game issuing a free pass to Bryan Byrne. Orlando Mercado followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead. The next batter, Greg Thomson knocked in a pair of runs with a single to left and the lead was 4-0. With two outs, Frank Curreri plated two more Silver Hawks with a double to left for a 6-0 advantage. The final run scored on the second dropped fly ball of the inning, as shortstop Paul Janish misplayed a pop up by Cruz.

Forrest Cory (WP, 1-0) avoided a similar fate by retiring six of the seven Dayton batters he faced over 2.0 innings. The south paw gave up a pinch hit single to Bobby Mosby to open the eighth inning before getting out of trouble with a ground out and an infield pop up. Cory pitched a one, two, three, ninth to pick up the win.

Dayton opens up a three game series with the Lansing Lugnuts beginning Monday night at Fifth Third Field with a 7:00 PM first pitch. 1410 ESPN Radio WING AM will carry the game live beginning with the pre game show at 6:30 PM. The game can also be heard live on the internet at www.daytondragons.com RHP Johnny Cueto gets the start for the Dragons, while Lansing will counter with RHP A.J. Wideman.

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Midwest League Stories from April 9, 2006


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