July 13, 2008 | LISLE, IL The DuPage Dragons jumped out to a big early lead Sunay in their game against the Danville Dans and it appeared they would coast to their fourth victory in a row. Several hours later, the Dans stole victory from the jaws of defeat and beat the Dragons by a score of 10-9. The game went into extra innings and lasted four hours and 34 minutes, and in the end, the Dragons fell to 16-13 on the season, 3-2 in the second half.
The Dragons started the game by scoring eight runs in the first inning. Leftfielder Mark Noth (Belmont) reached first on a single to start thee inning off. Shortstop Kevin Tokarski (Illinois State) followed up with a ground ball in the hole that was fielded on a nice diving play by Dans shortstop Tyler Park. However, in his haste to make a play, Park threw the ball over the second baseman’s head into righttfield, allowing both runners to advance an additional 90 feet to put runners in scoring position. Two wild pitches allowed both players to score and the Dragons already had a 2-0 lead. But they weren’t done yet. After a groundout, consecutive walks to rightfielder Justin Behm (Northern Illinois) and third baseman Phil Wunderlich (Louisville) put two runners on for second baseman Jordan Tokarz (Eastern Illinois). Tokarz sent a 3-1 delivery from Dans pitcher Jon Clarence over the leftfield wall for a three-run homer, his second of the year. First baseman Dave Reynolds (Northern Illinois) was hit by a pitch a few tosses later, and then a strikeout made it two outs in the inning. Centerfielder Justin Wilson (Oakland) walked, ending the day for Clarence, but not the inning for the Dragons. Noth came to the plate for the second time in the inning, and it appeared the inning would end when he sent a fly ball to centerfield. However, the ball was dropped, allowing Noth to reach second and scoring both runners. Tokarski followed with an RBI triple scoring Noth, before a strikeout finally ended the rally. The Dragons led by a score of 8-0 after sending 12 players to the plate in the first inning.
The Dragons would put one more run across in the second inning. Behm became the second Dragons player to get hit by a pitch in the game to lead off the inning. After a pop out, consecutive singles by Tokarz and Reynolds loaded the bases. That’s when designated hitter Scott Sexton (Oakland) sent a fly ball out to leftfield. Dans outfielder Dan Evatt made a nice diving catch on the play, butt Behm scored on the sacrifice fly and the Dragons now held a lead of 9-0.
Despite being staked to such a huge lead, Dragons starter Andrew Beatty (Southern Illinois-Edwardsville) was erratic during his start and couldn’t get out of the fourth. He would give up three runs in the third with two outs, which started with a walk and a single putting runners on firsts and second. A single by Park brought in the first run, then a two-RBI double by David Worthington made the score 9-3. It wouldn’t be the last time Worthington would make his presence known in this game. With one out in the fourth, a single and a walk again put runners on first and second. Dan Kaczrowski hit a double, scoring a run and putting two runners in scoring position. Brooks Kimmey hit a shot up the box, but Beatty put a glove on the ball, deflecting it towards Tokarski, who made a perfect throw to first for the out. Another run crossed the plate on the play, and after Beatty plunked the next hitter, his evening was over and he gave way to Eric Wyman (Illinois-Chicago). Wyman struck out the first hitter he faced, and the inning was over.
Wyman looked great in his work from the bullpen, striking out five during his three total innings of work, but would run into trouble with two outs in the seventh. Worthington hit a blast over the leftfield wall to start a two-out rally for the Dans. Evatt followed up with a ground rule double, and then a walk to John Dishon ended the night for Wyman. Andrew Estes (Oakland) came in and it looked like he would get out of the inning when he got the next batter to hit a groundball. But a throwing error prolonged the inning and allowed another run to cross the plate, and the score now set at 9-7.
Estes would continue to pitch into the ninth. A leadoff walk to Park would prove devastating, as Worthington would send a pitch out to the opposite field and over the rightfield wall for his second homer of the game, a two-run blast that tied the game at nine. Estes would eventually get out of the inning, and after the Dragons were retired in order inn the bottom half, the game would go into extra innings.
Nick Kurash (Miami (Ohio)) would come on in the tenth and kept the game tied through his three innings of work. The Dragons had a shot to win it in the twelfth when they would start the inning with a leadoff walk to Tokarz. A sacrifice by Reynolds moved the runner to second, but that’s where he would stay as the next two hitters would go down on strikes. Tom Zelasko (Northern Illinois) would come in for Kurash in the thirteenth and struck out the side in his first inning of work.
It was in the fourteenth that the Dans would finally breakthrough. John Dishon would lead off the inning with a walk, but was caught stealing second on a perfect throw by catcher Matt Behren (Northern Illinois). Zach Walters and Chris Lewellyn would earn back-to-back walks to put runners on first and second. It appeared Zelasko would escape the inning after he got CICL first-half MVP Dan Kaczrowski to fly out for the second out of the inning. But Brooks Kimmey would smack a single to score Walters and give the Dans their first lead of the night at 10-9.
Tyler Hess, who came on in the eleventh inning, looked to close out the game in the bottom of the inning. He was successful, and after trailing 9-0 after two innings, Danville was victorious. Hess picked up the win for the Dans, while Zelasko took the loss. The game lasted a total of fourteen innings, spanning four hours and thirty-four minutes, making it the longest game either team has played this season, both in time and innings played.
The DuPage Dragons now head to the road for their next three games. They’ll take on the Quincy Gems on Monday night, July 13th, in Quincy at 7:05 pm. The next home date for the Dragons will be Saturday, July 19th, when they take on the Springfield Sliders for a doubleheader. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 pm at the Lisle Sports Complex. Tickets start at $6 with children five and under admitted free. Group rates are available by calling the Dragons' ticket office at 630-241-2255.
Fans can listen to all the DuPage Dragons home and away games this season by going to our website and clicking the microphone [ here ].
