For Yerlin Confidan, the moment in the eighth inning with two outs wasn’t too big for his broad, 6-foot-4 frame. He remained calm, confident that Lansing’s Kyle Robinson would come at him with another changeup. It had worked in two previous at bats to get him out.
Confidan was ready.
The changeup predictably came on the first pitch, and Confidan lined it into left-center to send Carter Graham home with the go-ahead run. The hit capped a two-run rally that lifted the Dragons to a 4-3 victory and a club record 14-game winning streak.
“It feels great,” Confidan said. “In that moment, I wasn’t thinking too much. I was just thinking to make contact with the ball and that’s all that was in my mind. And that’s what I did, just put the ball in play. And whatever happened, it will happen.”
Dylan Simmons pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to finish the historic night. The Dragons immediately gathered for photos and each player and coach held up one finger on their right hand and four on their left. Their streak surpassed the previous team record of 13 set in 2002 and is the longest in the Midwest League in the past 20 years.
“We are here and we are seeing it with our eyes,” center fielder Carlos Jorge said. “What we have done is incredible. It’s a privilege for me to be part of this team, and I’m so proud of my team right now.”
During the first half of the winning streak in a home six-game series sweep of Peoria, the Dragons walked off three wins in the ninth inning. On Tuesday, they won in their last at bat again.
Peyton Stovall and Carter Graham began the eighth inning with singles. Then Anthony Stephan placed a perfect bunt toward third base for a sacrifice and moved both runners into scoring position.
Next, Robinson bounced a wild pitch off the catcher up the third-base line and Stovall raced home to tie the score. Dragons manager Vince Harrison Jr., who coaches third base, reminded Stovall that Robinson has a tendency to bounce pitches in the dirt.
“I just told him to be bold, man, be bold,” Harrison Jr. said. “It’s just talking about playing with confidence and not afraid to lose, and Stovall didn’t hesitate. I think that took the pressure off.”
After Carlos Sanchez battled for eight pitches before striking out, Confidan was ready for the changeup.
“Confy just picking us up and we’re just picking each other up,” Harrison Jr. said. “We’ve had those opportunities all year. We’re just taking advantage of it now.”
The streak has moved the Dragons (27-31 second half, 48-75 overall) out of last place and ahead of Fort Wayne and Lansing into fourth place in the East Division.
Like most games during the streak, the Dragons scored first. Three walks loaded the bases and Sanchez knocked in a run with a groundout. The lead remained at 1-0, however, when the big hit didn’t come.
But during this streak, somehow, those missed opportunities have not haunted the Dragons like they had all season.
In the second inning, Alexander Vargas singled with two outs. Jorge followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
On the pitching and defense side, the Dragons struggled by walking nine and committing two errors but minimized the damage. Starter Jose Montero walked five in 2 2/3 innings but didn’t allow a hit. He walked three in third and allowed a run on a ground ball before being replaced by Jimmy Romano.
The third ended when catcher Diego Omana threw out the first of three would-be base stealers. The Dragons also turned double plays in the second and fifth innings. Those were huge outs.
The Lugnuts tied the score in the fourth on a leadoff double and two-out RBI single. Then odd things happened in the seventh that seemed to be the events that would finally end the streak.
The ninth-home hitter started the inning by reaching base on catcher’s interference, then advancing from first to third on a groundout. With one out, Casey Yamauchi lifted a popup to shallow right field. Jorge was called off at the last second by right fielder Esmith Pineda. He missed the catch for an error and the go-ahead run scored.
But the Dragons gathered their resolve once again in the eighth inning. And the streak lives on with five games left in the season.
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