Lake County took a quick lead when Christian Knapczyk hit the third pitch of the game for a lead-off home run to right field, his seventh homer of the season.
The Dragons responded with two runs in the bottom of the first inning, taking advantage of two walks to start the frame and a run-scoring single by Yerlin Confidan to give Dayton a 2-1 lead.
Lake County battled back, getting a solo home run from Cozart in the second to tie the game, and then adding two more runs in the third on a pair of two-out RBI hits to take a 4-2 lead. The Captains added three more in the sixth to extend their lead to 7-2.
Dragons starting pitcher Luke Hayden struggled with his command, throwing 73 pitches but only 36 strikes. Hayden lasted two and two-thirds innings, allowing four runs on five hits with four walks and three strikeouts. Bryce Hubbart replaced Hayden and pitched effectively, working an inning and two-thirds of scoreless baseball.
Jimmy Romano replaced Hubbart to get the last two outs in the sixth, but Romano ran into problems in the sixth, allowing four hits and three runs (two earned) in the inning as Lake County increased their lead to 7-2. The Dragons failed to turn a potential inning-ending double play in the inning, committing an error that opened the door for a three-run inning.
The Dragons could not establish much of a comeback threat until the late innings. They had only two hits through the first seven innings before breaking through with one run in the eighth. Anthony Stephan walked with one out and scored from first on a double by Carlos Sanchez to make it 7-3.
Lake County brought in 35-year-old MLB veteran Tyler Naquin to pitch the ninth. Naquin, a longtime big league outfielder, spent two years with the Reds in 2021-22, but is trying to convert to pitcher this season. He entered the game on Thursday with six scoreless appearances covering eight innings for Lake County and featured a fastball that reached 96 mph. The Dragons got to Naquin for two runs when Ariel Almonte lined a one-out single to left, went to third on Diego Omana’s double to center, and scored on a wild pitch. Omana scored on Johnny Ascanio’s sacrifice fly to make it 7-5, but the Dragons could not put another man on base to bring the tying run to the plate.
The Dragons had five hits in the game. Stephan, Sanchez, and Omana each had a double.