Naturals Rally Late to Take Opener

CORPUS CHRISTI - The Northwest Arkansas Naturals pulled away late in Tuesday's series opener, handing the Hooks a 5-2 loss at Whataburger Field.
Tied at 2-2 in the eighth and Freddy Fermin on first base, Tommy DeJuneas surrendered a fly ball into the right field corner off the bat of Nick Heath. Granden Goetzman booted, then bobbled the ball in the corner, allowing Fermin to round third and score the winning run. Heath was credited with a double and no run batted in.
Taylor Featherston drove his 10th home run of the year - a two-run shot - into the pool off DeJuneas (L, 0-3) in the ninth for the 5-2 final.

The sour ending spoiled a great performance by Hooks starter Chad Donato. The Cypress native worked a season-high 7.0 innings, striking out seven with no walks and only three hits allowed.
The lone damage against Donato came in the third. With two outs, D.J. Burt singled and was followed by a Heath home run (6), which tied the game at the time. Donato went on to retire the next 12 batters he faced and 13 of his final 14 opponents.
But Donato was equally matched by No. 7 Royals prospect Jackson Kowar, who worked 6.0 innings and surrendered four hits on two runs while fanning six. His lone blemish came on a Ronnie Dawson two-run homer (15) in the second, which tied the Astros' No. 10 prospect for the Texas League lead with Tulsa's Cody Thomas.

We have a new home run leader in the clubhouse!!@ronniedawsonn goes yard for the 15th time this year 😤 pic.twitter.com/nFlyhfesJF

— Corpus Christi Hooks (@cchooks) July 16, 2019

Andres Sotillet (W, 5-1), Holden Capps and Tyler Zuber (S, 5) shut down the Hooks over the final 3.0 innings.
Dawson went 2-for-4 in the loss. Abraham Toro was 2-for-3 with a walk.
Fans might anticipate another pitcher's duel Wednesday at Whataburger Field as No. 25 Astros prospect Enoli Paredes (1-2, 4.71) is slated to square off against top Royals prospect Brady Singer (2-1, 5.80). First pitch is 6:15 p.m.