When Robinson Ortiz’s pitch bounced off the dirt and the mitt of catcher Carlos Rojas toward the backstop, Ascanio sprinted home with the winning run for a 3-2 victory over Great Lakes.
“I was always ready, anticipating the ball in the dirt,” Ascanio said through a translator. “Very important for us as a team and to give us more union as a team. We needed a game like this.”
The last-place Dragons (10-20) lost a three-run lead in the ninth inning Wednesday night in a 4-3 loss to the Loons (15-15). In a season of difficult losses, it was the lowest of lows.
“A little bit of relief, a lot of excitement as soon as it went by him,” said Dragons first baseman John Michael Faile, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning. “I’m on the top step of the dugout, just like everybody else, yelling, ‘Go, go, go, go, go.’ We needed this one.”
The game almost got away from the Dragons like the one the night before. Great pitching from starter Luke Hayden (one run in five innings), Graham Osman and Irvin Machuca in his Dragons debut maintained a 2-1 lead heading to the ninth.
But Connor Phillips, making another rehab appearance, allowed a single and walk to start the ninth. After a sacrifice bunt, a grounder brought home the tying run. Here we go again.
But Easton Sikorski pitched a scoreless 10th with the Loons’ fastest player starting the inning on second base and their best hitters coming to bat. With two outs, manager Vince Harrison Jr. intentionally walked Zyhir Hope.
The left-handed hitting Hope hit the go-ahead two-run homer the night before. Harrison Jr. liked the right-on-right matchup better against Jordan Thompson. He grounded to Leo Balcazar at shortstop, and Faile made a good scoop on a low throw.
“I was just trying to keep it in front and not let it get it behind me, but sometimes you’d rather be lucky than good,” Faile said.
Sikorski’s inning gave the Dragons the chance they needed. He lowered his ERA to 0.53 and earned his first win.
“Amazing what that guy is doing,” Harrison Jr. said. “He is one of the most likable players I’ve ever coached. We’ve used him in so many roles, and now he seems to relish those big moments.”
The Dragons celebrated the win at home plate, but it wasn’t a wild, water-dumping celebration. They were grateful to win but more relieved than anything else.
“Even this win tonight, the mood’s still a little weird,” Harrison Jr. said. “Because we had that game, then we didn’t have that game, then we had the game. You should be celebrating, but it was just a little familiar.”
The Dragons had lost seven of eight games, so the timing of the win couldn’t be better. And, coincidently or not, the timing of a team meeting before Thursday’s game was perfect.
“It was planned on Monday, but it seemed to have a lot of weight, and the timing was pretty damn good,” Harrison Jr. said. “The best thing about it, it was player led.”
The players talked about winning habits and ways to improve. Then they gathered for a team stretch.
“That’s something I’m big on, is trying to create those team moments,” Harrison Jr said.
He and his staff’s work to bring a young team along, to teach them the right way to play the game is a constant conversation about every facet of the game.
One of those discussions recently has been about scoring early to put pressure on the opponent. “Not that we’re not trying to score early, but being more vocal about it,” Harrison Jr. said.
The first inning was more good timing. With two outs, Balcazar walked and Faile sent a pitch the opposite way down the right-field line for his fifth home run and 2-0 lead.
“It was a good feeling, just because of kind of how the game ended yesterday, to come back out and just punch them in the mouth a little bit,” Faile said.
The homer proved Harrison Jr.’s point about early runs.
“It’s easy to shut down after two outs, but we got two outs, and then Leo draws a walk and you’re always one swing away,” he said. “And that was kind of fitting, because we talk about not giving in and not falling into the trap of things aren’t great.”
The Dragons’ record isn’t great, but the timing of Thursday’s win felt pretty great.
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