Williams Leads Dragons to Fourth Straight Win

Dragons 6, South Bend 5
                                                
Dayton (R-H-E): 6-9-0
South Bend (R-H-E): 5-11-3
Win: Ryan Nutof (4-1)
Loss: Enrique De Los Rios (0-1)
Save: John Ghyzel (14)
HR: Dayton: Raul Wallace (1st, 0 on base in sixth inning).
HR: South Bend: Austin Filiere (5th, 0 on base in ninth inning).
South Bend, Ind.-Dayton's J.D. Williams collected two hits and two runs batted in, and made an outstanding leaping catch against the left field fence for the final out of the game as the Dragons held on to defeat the South Bend Cubs 6-5 on Thursday night. The win was the Dragons fourth straight and evened their second half record at 4-4. The contest was the start to a six-game road trip for the Dragons.
Dayton battled back from a 4-1 deficit after three innings, scoring two in the fourth, two in the fifth, and one in the sixth to take a 6-4 lead. They went to the ninth inning still leading 6-4 and brought on all-star closer John Ghyzel for the save. South Bend's Austin Filiere opened the inning by hitting an 0-2 pitch for a home run to left field to make it 6-5. Ghyzel struck out the next two hitters before South Bend's Chris Singleton launched a high drive to left field. Williams went all the way to the fence and made a leaping catch, reaching out to catch the ball just before it hit the wall. South Bend actually argued that the ball may have scraped the wall as it settled in Williams' glove, but the call stood and the Dragons celebrated a road win.
The game marked the fifth time this season that the Dragons battled back from a three-run deficit to win, but the first time they have come back after trailing by three since May 9.

The Dayton bullpen combined for six strong innings. Ryan Nutof (4-1) earned the win with two scoreless innings. Wendolyn Bautista was perfect over three innings, retiring all nine batters, and Ghyzel earned his league-leading 14th save.
The Dragons wasted no time getting the scoring started when Jose Garcia opened the game with a double to left field, went to third on Alejo Lopez's ground out to second, and scored on a ground out to first base by Andy Sugilio. South Bend produced a run in the bottom of the first to tie the game, and then added three more in the third.
Williams had an RBI double in the fourth and Raul Wallace drove in a run in the same inning with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3. In the fifth, Mitch Piatnik's run-scoring double tied the game, and Williams drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single. Wallace added a solo home run in the sixth, his first of the year.
 
Dragons starting pitcher Tyler Mondile lasted just three innings, allowing four runs on eight hits with no walks and two strikeouts.
The Dragons finished the night with nine hits. Williams, Wallace, and Garcia each had two.
Up Next: The Dragons (4-4, 35-41) meet the Cubs (4-4, 38-39) in the second game of the four-game series on Friday night at 7:35. Packy Naughton (3-8, 5.21) will start for Dayton.
The next Dragons home game is July 4th at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field against the Lake County Captains. An on-field fireworks show will follow the game. For Dragons 2018 ticket information, call (937) 228-2287.
Game Broadcast: All Dragons games are broadcast on radio on Fox Sports 980 WONE and on the internet at wone.com. Games are also available on the Dayton Dragons mobile app.