Hamilton Races to Walk-Off Win for Dragons

August 13, 2011

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Lake County (R-H-E): 1-9-2
Dayton (R-H-E): 2-7-1

WP: Blaine Howell (2-1)
LP: Kyle Petter (2-3)
Sv: None

HR: Dayton: None
HR: Lake County: None

Dayton, Ohio-Billy Hamilton raced in from first base with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Dayton Dragons defeated the Lake County Captains 2-1 on Saturday night before a crowd of 8,687 at Fifth Third Field. The win was the Dragons sixth in their last seven games. They improved to 31-16 in the second half, matching the best record in franchise history for the first 47 games of a half.

The Dragons winning rally started with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 11th inning when Hamilton lined a single to left. Drew Poulk, entered the game as a pinch runner in the ninth inning after Ronald Torreyes was hit by a pitch, lined a single to center. As Hamilton rounded second and headed for third, Lake County center fielder Luigi Rodriguez momentarily bobbled the ball, then recovered quickly. Hamilton raced around third as the relay throw came in and scored with a head first slide as the throw came in wide of the plate to end the game.

Lake County scored one run to take the lead in the top of the first inning and continued to lead 1-0 until the Dragons tied the game in the fifth. Hamilton walked, went to second on Ronald Torreyes' sacrifice, stole third, and scored on Donald Lutz's ground out to make it 1-1.

Dragons reliever Blaine Howell (2-1) earned the win, throwing three scoreless innings. He allowed no hits with one walk and one strikeout.

With 23 games to play, the Dragons playoff cushion stands at five and one-half games. The top two teams in the Eastern Division will qualify for the playoffs from among the six non-qualified teams.

The Dragons host the Captains on Sunday in a suspended doubleheader. A suspended game that began Tuesday night in Lake County will resume at 2:00 p.m. with Dayton leading 2-0 in the top of the fourth inning. The regularly scheduled game will follow and is scheduled for seven innings. Kyle Lotzkar (1-1, 5.12) will start for Dayton against Lake County's Felix Sterling (2-1, 2.20). Tickets for Sunday, August 14 will be good for both games.