Loons Rally For Dramatic Win Over Dragons
MIDLAND, Mich. - After letting a win slip away Thursday, the Great Lakes Loons were ready to return the favor Friday night. And that they did.
Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth against Dayton, Loons third baseman Paul Hoenecke gave his team new life with a two-run homer over the wall in right centerfield. Then, after starting a rally-killing double play in the top of the 10th inning, Brandon Trinkwon ignited another rally with a leadoff single in the bottom of the inning.
Trinkwon moved to second on Spencer Navin's sacrifice bunt, took third on Malcolm Holland's ground out, and then scampered home with the winning run when Jesmuel Valentin was safe at first on a throwing error by Carlton Daal - the Dragons fourth, final and fatal error in a 5-4 decision.
"What's great is that these guys never say die," said Haselman. "It was the same way last night, even after we lost the lead in the ninth. It's a good sign as a team, no question."
Dayton tied Thursday's night's game with two outs in the ninth and went on to win in the 12th inning. But the Dragons couldn't hold on thanks to Hoenecke's homer and their own sloppy defense.
"We were kind of down after they took the lead," said Hoenecke. "But we just said we had to keep our heads up and keep battling"
Valentin led off the ninth with a single to center off of Dayton closer Zack Weiss. After Josmar Cordero struck out, Hoenecke connected on a 2-1 pitch for his team-leading ninth home run.
"I'm never going to say I'm trying to hit a home run, but when I'm up in situations like that I definitely want to do some damage," Hoenecke said. "I was lucky to get a good count and he threw me something I could get around on."
"That's a huge home run," said Haselman. "He's had some big hits for us and that was another one."
But the Loons might not have been in good position for their winning 10th inning rally if not for a tricky double play turned by Trinkwon and Valentin. The Dragons had runners on first and third with one out against Loons reliever Jacob Rhame when Avain Rachal hit a slow grounder to short. Trinkwon fielded the ball and got off of a quick throw to Valentin, who threw to Cordero at first.
"The ball was wet - it was wet most of the night," said Trinkwon. "But I was able to get a throw over to Val and he made a great play with a guy (Joe Hudson) coming in hard at him at second. And Cordero scooped the throw at first. We all had a part in it."
Rhame, one of six Loons pitchers on the night, earned his third win of the season. Nolan Becker, who pitched the 10th for Dayton, took the loss and is now 1-1.
The Loons got a strong starting effort from 19-year-old right-hander Zachary Bird, who gave up one earned run in five innings. The Dragons scored a run off of him in the third, on a single by Daniel Pigott, before the Loons took the lead in the fourth on an RBI double by Joey Curletta, who eventually scored on a throwing error by Daal.
The Dragons scored three runs in the eighth, one on a throwing error by catcher Spencer Navin, the other on Rachail's two-run double into the rightfield corner. But the Loons defense also came up big in the inning, as Alex Santana ran down a ball hit by Joe Hudson to deep left to make a catch that prevented two runs
"I think we're playing better defensively," Trinkwon said. "We're taking pride in it and we're putting in a lot of work."
The Loons made two roster moves prior to Friday's game. The first saw catcher Kyle Farmer - the team's leading hitter with a .310 batting average - being called up to High-A Rancho Cucamonga. Jose Capellan, who played in 68 games for the Loons last year, was sent down from Rancho to fill Farmer's roster spot.
Also added to the roster was Matt Campbell, the Dodgers recent ninth round pick out of Clemson. The hard-throwing Campbell served as the Tigers' closer and finished with a 4-0 record, 0.85 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 32 innings pitched. To make room for Campbell, the Loons placed closer Mark Pope on the disabled list.
Campbell, who arrived at Dow Diamond in the afternoon, pitched a scoreless ninth, but was helped by an inning-ending throw to the plate by Hoenecke which cut down Dragons pinch runner Ronald Bueno.
The Loons and Dayton play the third game of their series tomorrow night (7:05 p.m.). Brandon Martinez (1-3, 3.31 ERA) will start for the Loons while right-hander Jackson Stephens will make his first appearance of the season for the Dragons.
Saturday's promotional lineup features a post-game Fireworks Loontacular powered by Dow Corning.
.The Great Lakes Loons are an eighth-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For tickets and more information, call 989-837-BALL or visit loons.com.