Loons End Dayton Series with 9-6 Win

DAYTON, OH. – The Great Lakes Loons (18-18) won their second-straight contest against the Dayton Dragons (20-16) on Sunday’s series finale with a 9-6 victory. Loons catcher Carson Taylor, a 4th round selection by the Dodgers in 2020, recorded his first professional homerun to plate the final two runs in the Loons victory. James Outman also homered to highlight a five-run first inning with a three-run blast, his third homer of the year.

Great Lakes starter Jesus Vargas (W, 4-2) tossed his second quality start, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts. As a staff, Loons pitchers struck out 10 batters and walked two. Following Vargas’s win, the right-hander holds the fifth-best WHIP in the High-A Central (0.91). In eight appearances on the year, Vargas has tossed five or more innings in four appearances, leading the Loons in innings-pitched (33.0).

Dayton’s Lyon Richardson (L, 1-2) allowed five runs on seven hits, walking two batters and striking out four. Richardson was a 2018 2nd round selection by Cincinnati, and had only allowed two earned runs in the month of May in 16 1/3 innings. Richardson has allowed 13 earned runs to score on ten combined innings over three games in June, with GL plating 12 of them in two games.

Seven of the nine Loons batters recorded at least a hit on Sunday, with batters six through nine finishing a combined 9-for-19, all recording multi-hit games. Justin Yurchak produced his best game at the plate, finishing Sunday 3-for-4, scoring twice. Following up his five-RBI night with a double and triple on Saturday, Andrew Shaps scored three runs in his 2-for-5 day. Zac Ching continues to be one of the best hitters since the beginning of the month of June, holding the second-best batting average in the league (.422) in that span. Deacon Liput also scored a run in a 2-for-5 day with a double in the first inning. The four-man team of Ching, Yurchak, Shaps and Liput have now recorded back-to-back multi-hit performances, combining for 18-37 in two games, scoring 11 runs.

In 20 different scoring opportunities, the Loons were successful scoring runs in six of them, leaving nine batters aboard. Dayton finished 4-for-11 with runners in scoring position, leaving five on base. With five in the first for GL on Sunday, the Loons scored the first run in every game except for the 1-0 shutout in the Dayton trip. The Loons are now 16-7 when finding the scoreboard before their opponent this season.

Miguel Hernandez and Francisco Urbaez both contributed multi-hit games, both scoring a run. Catcher James Free brought in two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on Loons’ lefty, Braidyn Fink, with a two-out double. With nobody aboard in the ninth frame, Jonathan Willems belted his first longball of the year, finishing Sunday’s scoring.

The Loons look forward to another six-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts at Jackson Field following Sunday’s victory, a rematch of the two in-state rivals from the end of May, when Great Lakes took four of six. First pitch can be followed live on ESPN 100.9 FM, with the Loons On-Deck Circle, Built by Three Rivers, beginning a half-hour prior to first pitch at 7:05 P.M. from Jackson Field. The Loons return to Midland on Tuesday, June 22, when the Lake County Captains make their final pass through Dow Diamond of the season with a six-game set. Ticket and promotional schedule information can be found at Loons.com.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.