The only party favor for the Dragons was breaking out the lime-green cowboy hat in the bottom of the first inning after Justice Thompson’s three-run homer. But that fashionably late statement didn’t count for much. The Dragons had already committed three errors and allowed six unearned runs in the first inning.
By the team it ended three hours and seven minutes later in the top of the ninth when the rain returned, the Dragons had lost 16-7. However, the game wasn’t officially over for another 30 minutes at 7:33 while news of tornado warnings north of Dayton were circulating.
The Dragons, to their credit, didn’t leave the party early, breaking out the home-run cowboy hat again in the sixth on Luis Chevalier’s solo homer and almost getting it ready for Austin Callahan, whose fly ball was caught at the wall with a runner on base.
On the longest day of the season at the ballpark, the Dragons played their longest non-extra innings game of the season. Their longest was 3:33 in an 11-inning 12-11 loss to Lake County. The Dragons are 1-5 in games of three hours or longer and all have been at home.
The Kernels (32-25) lead the West Division by 3.5 games and managed a 3-3 split with the Dragons. Rosario’s homer was his 10th. In the third inning, the Kernels’ Ben Ross hit a two-run homer for his ninth of the season and a 9-3 lead much to the delight of his family and friends in the stadium.
Ross is a Springfield Shawnee graduate and was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round in 2022 out of Division II Notre Dame College in northeast Ohio. Ross entered Sunday’s game batting .244 with 27 RBIs. He is rated the Twins’ No. 28 prospect by MLB Pipeline. Ross was 3-for-6 Sunday with three RBIs and raised his average to .253.
Despite Sunday’s loss, the Dragons put themselves in position the past three weeks to be a second-half contender. Great Lakes, which was rained out Sunday, led the East Division by 10 games over the Dragons and West Michigan entering the day with 10 games to play. Soon the Loons will be the first-half winner with a playoff berth.
The second-half division winner will also make the playoffs. However, if the Loons (39-17) continue to dominate, the second playoff spot from the division will go to the team with next-best overall record.
At 29-28, the Dragons have played themselves into a position to contend for that spot. They are on a 12-5 run, winning close games with the best pitching in the league since April 30 and some timely hitting that was missing early in the season. After losing their first 10 one-run games, the Dragons are now 7-14 in one-run games.
The best thing to happen for the Dragons offensively the past three weeks and from the highly rated prospect view is the hot bat of 19-year-old shortstop Edwin Arroyo. His first-inning double Sunday extended his hitting streak to 11 games. After going 3-for-4 Sunday, Arroyo is 21 for his last 44 (.477) with three homers, a triple and four doubles to raise his average from .182 to .250.
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