Dunn was at it again Saturday with a double, inside-the-park home run and three runs scored. But as good as Dunn has been, his team isn’t winning close games. Saturday was the latest example in a 5-4 loss to first-place Lake County. The Dragons are 0-7 in one-run games.
“Those one-run ballgames are stingers,” Dunn said. “But we keep fighting, we keep competing and once we’re able to come out on top of some of those one-, two-run ballgames, it’s going to be a total flip of momentum.”
The Dragons (7-13) took a 3-2 lead in sixth inning on Michael Trautwein’s line-drive single. But reliever Myles Gayman allowed his first home runs this season on solo shots by Joe Lampe, the Captains’ best hitter, and Will Bartlett. The Captains (13-6) scored an unearned insurance run in the ninth with the help of an Austin Hendrick error in right field.
Dunn walked to lead off the ninth and scored on Austin Callahan’s double. But just like Friday night, good luck eluded the Dragons. The Lake County luck on Friday was in the form of a bunt single and a high-bouncing infield single that got them back to the lead.
On Saturday, right before Callahan’s double, Tyler Callihan’s line drive to left was caught by a diving Cesar Idrogo. With two outs and Callahan representing the tying run at second, Jack Rogers hit a line drive that second baseman Juan Brito snagged just above the ground to end the game.
“It’s baseball,” manager Bryan LaHair said. “They’re just being challenged right now, and how they handle it, being able to flush things, is going to be a big product of their success moving forward.”
Entering Saturday the Dragons’ offense showed life in its previous seven games despite a 3-4 record. In those games they batted a league-high .268 by 24 points over the next best team. They had 10 hits Saturday, however, they struck out 10 times and continue to lead the league in striking out.
“Hitting’s tough and strikeouts happen,” LaHair said. “We’ve got a lot of young hitters. The best thing we can do is just keep working hard, try to keep their confidence moving forward and try to get more barrels on the ball.”
Confidence is not an issue for Dunn. He’s batting .377 with a .534 on-base percentage and 1.194 OPS. He has four homers and 14 RBIs, and he’s 11 for 12 in stolen base attempts.
“Everybody goes through stretches where they see the ball really good,” Dunn said. “Ultimately it comes down to when you’re in that box, what can you focus in on and what can you use to your advantage.”
Dunn was drafted in the 15th round in 2021 out of Western Michigan. Higher-rated prospects Hendrick (21), Callihan (22) and Edwin Arroyo (19) didn’t play in college and are all batting under .200.
”Obviously there’s more experience there,” LaHair said of Dunn. “But that type of stuff is no excuse. Everybody here should be here, and everybody here is just going to keep getting better each day.”
The most exciting play was Dunn’s home run. The right fielder made a sliding attempt deep in the corner near the wall. The ball landed fair by inches and caromed out along the outfield fence. As Dunn rounded second LaHair was already waving him home. By the time he recovered and made the throw, Dunn crossed the plate.
“As soon as the right fielder fell,” LaHair said. “I could tell where Blake was, and at that point it was pretty much over.”
Friday’s game: The Dragons trailed 9-0 before rallying with an eight-run seventh and two-run eighth to take a 10-9 lead. But the Captains responded and won 12-11 in 11 innings. Had the Dragons won it would have been the biggest comeback in club history since at least 2004. Previous records are not complete.
Dunn hit a three-run homer to cap the seventh. Ruben Ibarra led off the eighth with a 436-foot, 116-mph homer out of the stadium to left to tie the score. Justice Thompson broke the tie with a homer one out later. Ibarra singled to tie the score again in the ninth. The Captains scored the winning run on a wild pitch with two outs in the 11th.
SUNDAY’S GAME
Captains at Dragons, 1:05 p.m., Dayton CW, 980
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