‘Caps Bats Go Silent in First 2025 Shutout
DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps watched a scoreless streak extend to 16 consecutive innings, suffering a 2-0 loss to the Dayton Dragons in front of 8,190 fans at Day Air Ballpark on Thursday night. The Whitecaps, who entered the contest with the highest-scoring offense in the Midwest League
DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps watched a scoreless streak extend to 16 consecutive innings, suffering a 2-0 loss to the Dayton Dragons in front of 8,190 fans at Day Air Ballpark on Thursday night.
The Whitecaps, who entered the contest with the highest-scoring offense in the Midwest League with 111 runs on the season, failed to bring home a run on Thursday as the Dragons took their second straight game of the series.
The contest began as a pitcher’s duel on Thursday, as starting pitchers Andrew Sears and Luke Hayden each tossed five scoreless innings for the ‘Caps and Dragons, pushing the contest into a battle of the bullpens. In the sixth, John Michael Faile launched a two-out solo homer to give Dayton the difference-making run in the contest. In the eighth, the Dragons tacked on an important insurance run when Johnny Ascanio ripped an opposite-field RBI-double, extending the lead to 2-0 and ending the scoring in a pitching-dominated battle.
The Whitecaps drop to 12-6 while the Dragons jump to 7-11. Dragons lefty Jonah Hurney dominated with three scoreless frames out of the bullpen to collect his first win, while ‘Caps righty Hayden Erbe (0-1) gave up the home run to Faile in taking his first loss of 2025. Dayton righty Brody Jessee tossed a perfect ninth inning in picking up his first save of the year. The ‘Caps amassed only three hits in the contest – none of which went for extra bases.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps watch this six-game series roll to Friday at Day Air Ballpark against the Dayton Dragons beginning at 7:05 pm. Pitcher Carlos Marcano is scheduled to take the mound for West Michigan. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50 pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids to catch all the action, or listen to the game live at whitecapsbaseball.com.