“We made it a real focal point in our hitters meeting to put a good swing on a good pitch and wait till you get that good pitch,” Callihan said.
Callihan didn’t have to wait long. On a 3-1 pitch in the first inning, Callihan hit a grand slam onto the right-field lawn to propel the Dragons to a 7-3 victory over Great Lakes.
“It felt pretty good off the bat, not gonna lie,” Callihan said of his first extra-base hit this season. “You kind of get that feeling, so I knew it had a pretty good chance. I think I knew it was gone.”
The Dragons still struck out 14 times, but they are walking a lot to create scoring opportunities. They have one of the worst batting averages in the league at .179, but they are second in on-base percentage at .353. The Dragons drew seven walks the night after drawing 12.
On Wednesday, when they put the bat on the ball better things happened. Mat Nelson led off the third with a homer for a 5-0 lead. After the Loons cut the lead to 5-3, the Dragons added two runs in the eighth on Blake Dunn’s sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.
Dunn’s sacrifice fly with two-strike count is the kind of good at-bat Dragons manager Bryan LaHair says he is seeing for the most part.
“I love those at-bats, those add-on at-bats,” he said. “Then close the door, and that’s how we played tonight to give us that little cushion at the end.”
Dragons starter Carson Rudd was happy to be on the other side of the grand slam. In the season opener last week at Lake County he gave up a first-inning grand slam in an 8-3 loss.
“It was a weird turn of events, but it’s always good to have that one on our side and not give one up,” he said. “It gives you confidence to pound the zone. A little run here, a hit here doesn’t doesn’t really bother you when you’re up 4-0. It gives me no reason not to just be all over the zone.”
Rudd pitched five innings, which he felt good about, and allowed three hits, a run and stuck out eight. And he didn’t walk anyone.
“It was good to get a good one under my belt and start off solid at home,” he said.
Five games into the season the Dragons are 2-3. Callihan thought it was a little extra important to win Wednesday against the Loons (1-4).
“I’ve told a few people I think we’ve got a really good team,” he said. “Hitting, fielding, pitching, every part of the game is very contagious. So when you got a team that’s giving it their all and winning, it’s just going to be incredible.”
Sellout streak: The Dragons extended their sellout streak to 1,443 games. They let it be known starting last week that 500 tickets were still available for Tuesday’s home opener. On Monday that number was down to 200, and they extended the streak with 8,135 tickets sold. On Wednesday, the Dragons announced an attendance of 8,096. The Dragons continue their homestand against Great Lakes through Sunday afternoon.
Ex-Dragon update: Centerfielder Michael Siani went 2-for-4 with a double in Louisville’s 7-3 loss to Toledo on Tuesday. Siani is playing regularly and batting .206 with a .325 on-base percentage in nine games. He has one home run and two RBIs.
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