Lake County shuts out Dragons 6-0 in series opener

The Dayton Dragons sign at Day Air Ballpark. DAYTON DRAGONS / CONTRIBUTED

The Dayton Dragons sign at Day Air Ballpark. DAYTON DRAGONS / CONTRIBUTED

Three Lake County pitchers combined on a four-hit shutout as the Captains defeated the Dayton Dragons 6-0 in front of 7,578 fans on Tuesday night at Day Air Ballpark.

Lake County took the lead with two runs in the second inning against Dayton starting pitcher Nick Sando, beginning their rally with two outs and the bases empty. Esteban Gonzalez had a run-scoring double in the inning and scored when the next hitter, Maick Collado, looped a single to right to make it 2-0.

It was still 2-0 when Sando came out to warm up to begin the fifth inning, but he never threw a pitch in the frame. Midway through his warm-ups, Sando signaled for the trainer and manager to visit the mound and after a brief discussion, Sando walked off the mound and was replaced by Jonah Hurney. The Captains scored three runs in the inning against Hurney as Ralphy Velazquez blasted a home run with two men on base, his 15th homer of the year.

Meanwhile, the Dragons did not pick up their first hit of the night until Ariel Almonte singled to right field with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Dragons got singles from Carter Graham and Yerlin Confidan in the seventh, but a double play prevented a productive inning. The Dragons best chance to score came in the bottom of the ninth, trailing 6-0, when Carlos Jorge doubled to start the inning. But Jorge was stranded at third as the Dragons were shutout for the fifth time this season.

Four Dragons players each had one hit for the Dragons. Jorge’s double was the only extra base hit.

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