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Jul. 2—The Dayton Dragons' leadoff job opened this week, and Peyton Stovall was the first to apply.
He batted leadoff in his final season at Arkansas and loved it. In two seasons with the Dragons, others have been given the leadoff priority. Now it's his turn.
On Wednesday, July 1, Stovall locked down the job. He led off the first inning with a home run. And when the lineup turned over to start the 11th, Stovall delivered the game-winning hit, a double off the left-field fence to score free runner Victor Acosta for a grind-it-out 9-8 victory over Lansing.
"I feel like I'm a guy I can see pitches well," Stovall said. "Can't thank (Dragons manager) Julio (Morillo) enough. He's got a lot of trust in me, a lot of confidence in me."
The moment never felt too big for Stovall, one of the experienced holdovers on a team that just sent its top four batters in the lineup to AA Chattanooga this week. He didn't like the first pitch, a called strike on the inside corner. He fouled off the next pitch, took ball one, then hit the walk-off winner to the opposite field and earned a big orange water cooler shower.
"I got two strikes, I took a deep breath and I was like, 'All right, just something to the right side,' " Stovall said. "He hung a breaking ball, and I put a good swing on it."
In the 10th with the score tied, Tyson Lewis was asked to sacrifice bunt Alfredo Alcantara to third to start the inning. That paid off when newcomer Marcus Smith hit a sacrifice fly to force the 11th.
Stovall, however, didn't get the bunt sign. Manager Julio Morillo and hitting coach Troy Gingrich had different instructions.
"They told me, 'Hey, I don't care how you do it, we just need a runner on third,' " Stovall said. "That gave me a lot of confidence that they had trusted me to swing the bat right there."
In two games leading off, Stovall is 3 for 8 with four walks and two runs scored. His batting average is .250 and rising. Stovall also shifted positions this week from second base to first base. He made a great diving catch of a line drive for the second out in the 10th to rob the Lugnuts of a double and a go-ahead run.
"I talked to him today and said, 'Your job is to get on base, however you want to do it,' " Morillo said. "I think it's going to be a big part of our team having him batting lead off."
To get to the point of not losing a second straight 11-inning game to the Lugnuts (31-44, 2-9 second half), the first-half East Division champion Dragons (44-32, 5-5 second half) had to do a lot of little things well, something that was missing in Tuesday's 7-6 loss.
"I'm really happy for our guys," Stovall said. "I hope just we continue to mesh as a team and see where it goes in the second half."
Clutch hits will always be needed, and the other clutch hit came on a two-out double in the ninth by Yerlin Confidan to tie the score 7-7 and force extra innings. But that was only one example of many performances it took to add up to the win.
Starting pitcher Ovis Portes pitched one of his strongest games, going 4 1/3 innings and leaving with a 4-2 lead. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks, struck out eight and lowered his ERA from 10.27 to 9.77.
"He was much better," Morillo said. "He gave us a chance today."
With that chance, the Dragons kept putting up runs when they needed them. And what Morillo liked most about the game was how the Dragons did it.
"The grind — that's what I love about tonight," he said. "It was tough, and I think it showed those guys that even though the other guys moved up, they can still do it."
The grind gained momentum when Julio Carreras doubled in a run and Confidan hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead in the third. Smith homered in the fifth, and Confidan singled in another run in the seventh to pull the Dragons to 7-6.
The bullpen got tough and gave the offense the chances it needed in the ninth, 10th and 11th. Stephen Quigley pitched the eighth through the 10th and allowed only a two-out single in the 10th. Jimmy Romano pitched a scoreless 11th and left two runners on with a strikeout.
"That's just winning baseball, doing the little things, playing good defense, getting a runner over when it matters," Stovall said. "Those are ultimately what matter at the end of the day, and that's how a team wins a lot. We continue to do that and I think we'll look up at the end of the second half and be ready for the playoffs."
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He batted leadoff in his final season at Arkansas and loved it. In two seasons with the Dragons, others have been given the leadoff priority. Now it's his turn.
On Wednesday, July 1, Stovall locked down the job. He led off the first inning with a home run. And when the lineup turned over to start the 11th, Stovall delivered the game-winning hit, a double off the left-field fence to score free runner Victor Acosta for a grind-it-out 9-8 victory over Lansing.
"I feel like I'm a guy I can see pitches well," Stovall said. "Can't thank (Dragons manager) Julio (Morillo) enough. He's got a lot of trust in me, a lot of confidence in me."
The moment never felt too big for Stovall, one of the experienced holdovers on a team that just sent its top four batters in the lineup to AA Chattanooga this week. He didn't like the first pitch, a called strike on the inside corner. He fouled off the next pitch, took ball one, then hit the walk-off winner to the opposite field and earned a big orange water cooler shower.
"I got two strikes, I took a deep breath and I was like, 'All right, just something to the right side,' " Stovall said. "He hung a breaking ball, and I put a good swing on it."
In the 10th with the score tied, Tyson Lewis was asked to sacrifice bunt Alfredo Alcantara to third to start the inning. That paid off when newcomer Marcus Smith hit a sacrifice fly to force the 11th.
Stovall, however, didn't get the bunt sign. Manager Julio Morillo and hitting coach Troy Gingrich had different instructions.
"They told me, 'Hey, I don't care how you do it, we just need a runner on third,' " Stovall said. "That gave me a lot of confidence that they had trusted me to swing the bat right there."
In two games leading off, Stovall is 3 for 8 with four walks and two runs scored. His batting average is .250 and rising. Stovall also shifted positions this week from second base to first base. He made a great diving catch of a line drive for the second out in the 10th to rob the Lugnuts of a double and a go-ahead run.
"I talked to him today and said, 'Your job is to get on base, however you want to do it,' " Morillo said. "I think it's going to be a big part of our team having him batting lead off."
To get to the point of not losing a second straight 11-inning game to the Lugnuts (31-44, 2-9 second half), the first-half East Division champion Dragons (44-32, 5-5 second half) had to do a lot of little things well, something that was missing in Tuesday's 7-6 loss.
"I'm really happy for our guys," Stovall said. "I hope just we continue to mesh as a team and see where it goes in the second half."
Clutch hits will always be needed, and the other clutch hit came on a two-out double in the ninth by Yerlin Confidan to tie the score 7-7 and force extra innings. But that was only one example of many performances it took to add up to the win.
Starting pitcher Ovis Portes pitched one of his strongest games, going 4 1/3 innings and leaving with a 4-2 lead. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks, struck out eight and lowered his ERA from 10.27 to 9.77.
"He was much better," Morillo said. "He gave us a chance today."
With that chance, the Dragons kept putting up runs when they needed them. And what Morillo liked most about the game was how the Dragons did it.
"The grind — that's what I love about tonight," he said. "It was tough, and I think it showed those guys that even though the other guys moved up, they can still do it."
The grind gained momentum when Julio Carreras doubled in a run and Confidan hit a sacrifice fly for a 3-1 lead in the third. Smith homered in the fifth, and Confidan singled in another run in the seventh to pull the Dragons to 7-6.
The bullpen got tough and gave the offense the chances it needed in the ninth, 10th and 11th. Stephen Quigley pitched the eighth through the 10th and allowed only a two-out single in the 10th. Jimmy Romano pitched a scoreless 11th and left two runners on with a strikeout.
"That's just winning baseball, doing the little things, playing good defense, getting a runner over when it matters," Stovall said. "Those are ultimately what matter at the end of the day, and that's how a team wins a lot. We continue to do that and I think we'll look up at the end of the second half and be ready for the playoffs."
Continue reading...
