Dragons strike out as River Bandits steal a call

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 12:42 AM Friday, July 17, 2009

DAYTON — It all might have worked out if home plate umpire Marcus Pattillo had called Quad Cities batter Osvaldo Morales out on strikes to end the seventh inning.

It appeared from the home team dugout at Fifth Third Field — and most other observers — that Morales struck out swinging.

It was even more clear on the video replay, but Pattillo said Morales held his bat back far enough. In other words, he didn’t completely bring his bat around his back.

Three pitches later (two were balls), Morales did fully swing, and he connected for a double that drove in two runs, breaking a 3-3 tie and giving the River Bandits a 5-3 victory over the Dragons on Thursday, July 16.

To Dragons manager Todd Benzinger, it didn’t matter if Morales swung or not. After all, the Dragons still would have had to score, and in the final four innings, they put only one batter on base.

“You can’t use that as an excuse,” Benzinger said. “He (pitcher Mark James) still got his breaking pitch up. The fact is, the last four innings, they (the River Bandits) pitched the ball better, hit the ball better and fielded better.

“That’s why they won.”

Lost was a 1-0 lead by the Dragons after two and a 3-1 lead after five and first J.C. Sulbaran, then newcomer Mark Serrano pitched into and out of some jams.

Sulbaran pitched much better than his previous start when all six batters he faced scored, but he had to exit after four due to a finger blister.

Serrano, the sixth-round Reds pick in last month’s draft, allowed a two-run homer to Morales in his second inning.

Dragons tales: Middletown’s Scott McGregor starts for the River Bandits tonight. A 2005 Lakota East grad (Benzinger coaches the girls basketball team there), he attended the University of Memphis and was a 15th-round draft choice by the Cardinals last summer.

Today’s game: River bandits at Dragons Time: 7 p.m. Radio/TV: WING-AM (1410)/WHIO TV, digital Ch 7.2 and 708.

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