The Doncaster Dragons did a lot of things right but came away with the loss against Summer League powerhouse Upwey Ferntree Gully on Saturday.

Despite losing 3-2, the Dragons would be encouraged by their first outing of the season, as they outhit the Tigers 8-3 and featured a couple of strong pitching performances against one of the league’s best batting lineups.

After last week’s opening game of the season was rained out, this game was played under sunny skies in perfect conditions at Kings Park. Left-hander Dan McGrath set the tone on the mound for the visitors, pitching four strong innings and allowing only one hit, with seven strikeouts.

His performance was matched by import Matt Josselyn, making his Doncaster debut, who allowed just two unearned runs in his four innings, striking out seven. Club coach Brendan McDonald was understandably pleased with his pitchers.

“Dan got us off to a great start and Matt was really impressive in relief. Worked quickly and attacked the zone. I expect him to have a lot of success in this league,” McDonald said.

Another Doncaster debutant also made an important contribution. Outfielder Hebert Rodriguez saved at least two runs when he made an extraordinary running catch deep in the left-field corner.

“Hebert’s catch might be the best play we see all season,” McDonald said. The Doncaster offence got busy early, with leadoff hitter McDonald hitting a double down the right-field line.

Marcel D’Avoine and Jean Alvarado followed with singles to give the Dragons an early 1-0 lead. They doubled that lead in the fourth inning, with singles by Rolando Curiel and Luke Utting, plus an Upwey throwing error.

Unfortunately, the scoring dried up after that, while the Tigers added single runs in the fifth and eighth innings, then scoring the winning run in the ninth on a wild pitch.

“It was a great game,” McDonald said. “Obviously it’s disappointing the result didn’t go our way but I couldn’t have asked for much more from the guys. If we keep playing like that, we’ll have the chance to win a lot of games this year.”

Next up for the Dragons is a home game against Sunshine on Saturday at 4pm.



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