Hudson's Hit Lifts Dragons to Walk-Off Win

Dragons 3, Kane County 2

Click here for the radio replay of Joe Hudson's game-winning hit

Dayton, Ohio-Joe Hudson doubled to the fence in right-center field to drive in Tanner Rahier from first base with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Dayton Dragons defeated the Kane County Cougars 3-2 on Saturday night. A crowd of 9,169 at Fifth Third Field saw the Dragons second walk-off win of the home stand.

The Dragons took two-out-of-three in the series with the Cougars in a battle of first place teams. The Dragons improved to 11-4 on the season as they won their ninth game in the last 10. They went 5-1 on the six-game home stand.

With the score tied at 2-2, Rahier led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to center field. After Sean Buckley flied to right, Hudson drilled a drive toward the gap in right-center that reached the fence. Rahier raced around from first and beat the relay throw to the plate to end the game.

The Dragons battled back from an early 2-0 deficit. Kane County took the lead with two runs in the second before the Dragons scored one in the third. Dayton's Carlton Daal reached on an infield single, went to second and then to then on a pair of wild pick-off attempts, and scored on Beau Amaral's single to center to make it 2-1.

The Dragons tied the game in the sixth inning. Amaral singled to start the rally and Jeff Gelalich reached on a fielder's choice with Amaral out at second. Phillip Ervin singled to center to move Gelalich to second. With two outs, Rahier lined a hit to left-center to bring in Gelalich and tie the game at 2-2.

The Dragons got one of the season's finest defensive plays in the seventh to keep the game tied. Kane County had Daniel Lockhart at third with no one out before Dragons reliever Zack Weiss got a strikeout for the first out of the inning. The next batter, Jake Hannemann, hit a fly ball to short center field that Amaral grabbed with a running catch. Lockhart tagged at third, but Amaral made a perfect throw to the plate and Hudson made a great tag to complete a double play and keep the game tied.

The victory went to Dragons reliever Scott Brattvet (2-0), who pitched a scoreless top of the ninth inning. Starter Daniel Wright worked five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Weiss tossed three scoreless innings, giving him 11.1 shutout innings on the year.

Ervin and Rahier each had two hits as part of an eight-hit Dragons attack.

The Dragons do not play on Sunday. They open a seven-game road trip on Monday in South Bend, Indiana against the South Bend Silver Hawks at 7:05 p.m. (EDT). Sal Romano (2-0, 2.00) will start for Dayton against South Bend's Aaron Blair (0-1, 4.08). All Dragons games can be heard on WONE Radio (980 AM) and via the internet at wone.com and through the Dragons Mobile App.