Dragons fall to Whitecaps

Credit: Marshall Gorby

Credit: Marshall Gorby

The West Michigan Whitecaps scored five runs in the first inning and held off a Dayton comeback effort to defeat the Dragons 6-5 on Sunday afternoon. The two clubs split the six-game series.

The Dragons saw their second half record drop to 9-19 (48-46 overall). West Michigan improved to 21-9 in the second half (52-44 overall).

West Michigan sent nine batters to the plate in the first inning and jumped out to a 5-1 lead.

The Dragons trailed 6-2 through five innings before battling back. In the sixth, Tyler Callihan and Austin Hendrick collected back-to-back doubles to start the inning, and Garrett Wolforth delivered a two-run single to make it 6-4.

In the seventh, Quincy McAfee (2-for-3) launched a home run to left field to pull the Dragons to within a run at 6-5. But Dayton did not put another man on base after McAfee’s home run. The final eight Dragons batters were retired in order.

The Dragons are off Monday. They return home to Day Air Ballpark on Tuesday to host Peoria.

TUESDAY’S GAME

Peoria at Dayton, 7:05 p.m., 980