With a 5-4 lead in the fifth inning of the second game of their doubleheader at Lake Orion on Monday, Stoney Creek had visions of an upset split.
But the Dragons scored 11 runs in the frame, including nine before recording an out, to mercy their visitors and come away with a 7-3, 15-5 sweep.
‘We took advantage of some of the errors that they made,? said Lake Orion Coach Denny Davis of his team’s big final inning.
‘We’ll have to hit better and more consistently to be competitive,? he added. ‘But we’ll get better as time goes on.?
Danielle Dunn got the win in both games, striking out seven while scattering just three hits in the opener. She took a liner off the knee early in game two, but managed to continue.
Shortstop Rachel Warren had five hits on the day to lead the Dragon offense. The team also had a two-hit game from Susan Lawless in game one and Sydney Fortin and Chelsea Hill each had a pair in the nightcap.
The Dragons (4-1, 2-0) renewed their rivalry with Clarkston last week with latest installment going Orion’s way, thanks in large part to their sophomore pitcher.
Dunn, a 27-game winner last season, pitched all 14 innings of the Dragons? 6-3, 9-5 doubleheader sweep at Clarkston last Wednesday.
‘She’s only a sophomore and she’s got six different pitches. I always joke with her that she can’t break a pane of glass because she doesn’t throw very hard,? Davis said.
‘She’s left-handed and that confuses people. It shouldn’t have any affect on anybody. She can break the ball in and out. She has risers and a drop ball. She has a nice little changeup.
‘She keeps us in the game. In order for us to win, we have to have great fielding, because she’s not going to strike out many people. She’s not overpowering (and) fast, but she moves the ball around well and if we play defense behind her, we have a shot.?
Dunn rang up eight strikeouts against the Wolves, but one she didn’t get was Clarkston freshman Taylor Hasselbach. Hasselbach had two RBI triples in the second game, one of which should have been out of the park, Clarkston coach Don Peters said.
‘She’s just a flat-out hitter,? Peters said. ‘If we had a fence that was normal, she would have hit it out.?
Clarkston managed nine hits in the two-game set, but throwing errors and passed balls helped keep the Wolves out of the games.
?(It’s) frustrating. We had four throwing errors at least, and that’s all kinds of runs,? Peters said.
Clarkston (3-4) scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but their rally fell short.
‘The juices were flowing and the kids were ready to go, but it didn’t work,? Peters said.
The Wolves didn’t wait as long to get going in the nightcap. The Dragons led off with a 3-0 lead and Clarkston promptly answered back with three of their own. Holding a 5-4 lead in the fourth inning, Lake Orion (2-1) scored four runs to put the game away.
Clarkston News Staff Writer Paul Kampe contributed to this report.