Loons Destroy Dragons 11-1

Midland, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (71-49) (26-29) decimated the Dayton Dragons (61-60) (28-27) 11-1 on a 68-degree partly Wednesday night at Dow Diamond. Great Lakes reached 72 wins for the fourth time in their 16-year franchise history.

Six different Loons drove in runs. Dalton Rushing and Griffin Lockwood-Powell led the way with three runs batted in.

Rushing rammed a two-run home run in the fifth inning and an RBI single in the sixth. The Dodgers No. 1 prospect leads the team with 13 and has hit four in his last seven games. Lockwood-Powell had a two-run double in the eighth and pushed across a run with a groundout in the sixth.

The Loons scored three runs in the opening inning, Alex Freeland singled and stole second. With two walks, Griffin Lockwood-Powell and Dalton Rushing walked to load the bases. Damon Keith on a 1-2 pitch, scorched it to right field, plating two. Chris Alleyne followed that up with a single up the middle.

Jared Karros made his Midwest League debut tonight, striking out six over five innings. The 22-year-old threw 73 pitches and 48 strikes.

Dayton starter Chris McElvain permitted four runs, three earned with an error helping Jake Vogel deliver an RBI single.

Taylor Young entered the night two stolen bases shy of tying James Baldwin II for second all-time in Loons' history at 53 in 2012. Young walked and stole second base in the sixth. Great Lakes stole four bases in the game and now are one short of matching the all-time franchise record of 189 back in 2012.

Young added the first run of the three-run eighth inning. A 376-foot home run to deep left field. Young has seven this season, three against Dayton.

Austin Hendrick had the lone Dragons run, a solo home run. He has three home runs in his eight at-bats in this series. Adolfo Ramirez, Christian Suarez, and Mitchell Tyranski combined for five strikeouts across the final four innings.

Game three of the six-game series is tomorrow Thursday, August 31st. The first pitch is at 7:05 p.m. Thursday is Thirsty Thursday presented by John P. O'Sullivan Distributing and True Crime Night. Join Lou E. Loon and try to solve the who-dun-it mystery throughout the game at Dow Diamond.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.