Hillman's gem, Collins' blast not enough

(Dayton, OH) - Gavin Collins went deep for the second day in a row and Juan Hillman worked out of some serious jams to deliver five strong innings, but the Lake County Captains (1-1, 28-43) lost to the Dayton Dragons (1-1, 42-30) on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field. The Dragons exploded for six runs in the sixth to erase Lake County's short-lived one-run lead and down the Captains, 8-3.
Dayton's offense got started quickly against Hillman, but the lefty recovered. Jose Siri and Taylor Trammell both hit solo home runs in the first inning to give the Dragons a 2-0 lead. The Dragons kept knocking on the door after the first, but Hillman was always there to slam it shut.

The third inning was Hillman's masterpiece. After allowing Dayton to load the bases with nobody out, the left-hander miraculously escaped without surrendering a run. Hillman got Tyler Stephenson to bounce a grounder to third and the Captains turned a 5-2-3 double play. Collins threw to catcher Logan Ice for the force out at home and Ice threw to Emmanuel Tapia at first for the twin killing. The Dragons still had runners on second and third, but Hillman struck out John Sansone looking to keep the Dragons off the scoreboard.
Riding the momentum from Hillman's Houdini act, Lake County erased the Dragons' 2-0 lead in the top of the fourth. Li-Jen Chu and Collins led off the inning with back-to-back singles. Two batters later, Conner Capel hit a tapper to first base and Kevin Franklin flipped the ball wildly to pitcher Ty Boyles, who was racing to cover first base. Chu scored on the play, Collins advanced to third and Capel moved up to second. Jose Medina then ripped a single to score Collins with the game-tying run.
Hillman got out of another predicament in the fourth. The Dragons put two men on with one out, but Hillman skirted danger. The southpaw got Malik Collymore to fly out to left and Siri to ground out to third to keep the score at 2-2 after four innings.
Lake County took its first and only lead in the top of the sixth with a bomb by Collins. The Captains' third baseman, who had hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the 10^th to ultimately win the game, hammered a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall and almost out of the ballpark. The baseball hit the top of the protective netting that shields the street from flying projectiles and travelled an estimated 416 feet. On the strength of that solo blast, the Captains took a 3-2 lead.
Dayton stormed ahead in the sixth to erase the Captains' lead and go up by five runs. The Dragons batted around, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six runs on five hits. Dayton scored the tying run on a wild pitch that allowed Bruce Yari to score. They plated the go-ahead run on an RBI infield single by Michael Beltre that brought home Hector Vargas. Dayton scored five runs against Captains reliever Ryan Colegate, who recorded just one out in the frame and was taken out after facing six batters. Alsis Herrera was responsible for allowing four of Colegates' runners score and was charged with one unearned run himself, thanks to a Miguel Eladio throwing error. Colegate (1-1) took the loss.
Boyles (3-2) earned the win for Dayton. The left-hander pitched six innings and allowed three runs, only two of which were earned. Boyles surrendered five hits, walked one batter and struck out nine Captains, tying a single-game career high.
The Captains and Dragons have split the first two games of the second half and will square off again on Saturday night. First pitch at Fifth Third Field is scheduled for 7:07 PM.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). 12- and 20-game mini ticket plans for the 2017 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.