Dragons hope 24th season ends with first Midwest League championship

The call would likely have even more exclamation points than Nichols’ call of the playoff-clinching 1-0 victory against the Great Lakes Loons on Sept. 2 in Midland, Mich.

“The Dragons need a strike to wrap up a playoff berth,” Nichols said. “It’s 3-2 to (Juan) Alonso. Simon Miller looks in. The right-hander sets. The pause and the pitch. Swing and a miss! They put this one in the win column! And playoffs here we come!”

The Dragons are making their first postseason appearance in seven years. A best-of-three series starts at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday against the Lake County Captains at Day Air Ballpark.

The Dragons will play Game 2 at 6:35 p.m. Thursday and Game 3 (if necessary) at 6:35 p.m. Friday at Lake County, which plays at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

If the Dragons win the first-round series, they will advance to a best-of-three championship series against one of two teams from the West Division: the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers or the Quad City River Bandits. That series would start on the road for the Dragons on Sept. 15 and conclude at home with Game 2 on Sept. 17 and Game 3 (if necessary) on Sept. 18.

The Dragons are 11-16 in seven playoff appearances. Fourteen different franchises won the Midwest League championship in the Dragons’ first 23 seasons. Of the 12 current Midwest League teams, Dayton is the only team without a title.

All that adds an extra layer of excitement this month for a franchise that ranks second in Minor League Baseball in average attendance (8,012). The Dragons’ sellout streak, the longest in United States professional sports history, surpassed 1,500 games in August.

“That’s where I get excited,” said Dragons President Bob Murphy. “The fans have been so terrific for us. I’m excited they are going to see baseball games that matter. They’ve been waiting a long time.”

The Dragons have never advanced to the championship series. They reached the semifinals by winning first-round series in 2000, 2001, 2008 and 2017. The Midwest League playoffs have included only four teams and two rounds since 2021, so Dayton has to win only one series this season to reach the final series.

Entering the weekend, with three regular-season games to play, Dayton had a mark of 39-24 in the second half. It clinched a playoff berth by winning the East Division in the second half. It finished second in the first half with a record of 34-32.

Like Murphy, Executive Vice President Eric Deutsch has worked for the Dragons for the entire run in Dayton.

“There’s two big things that I think have made 2024 exciting,” Deutsch said. “One is that we’ve had great attendance and great support from our community. Season-ticket holders renewed at a high rate. Suite-holder sponsors all renewed at a high rate. The sellout streak remained intact. Mother Nature cooperated. We had great crowds. People came to games and had great experiences.”

The Dragons will post their best season win total since 2011 when they set a franchise record with an 83-57 mark. That team included future Cincinnati Reds starters Tucker Barnhart and Billy Hamilton. The last Dragons team to make the playoffs included Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl, two current starters for the Reds.

The 2024 Dragons star is Cam Collier, the Reds’ first-round pick in 2022. He leads the team with 20 home runs and 74 RBIs.

The Dragons are 13-1 in one-run games in the second half and 23-8 over the full season.

“Baseball is a unique sport in that even the best team loses a third of their games and even the worst team wins a third of their games,” Nichols said. “It’s that middle third that really determines what kind of a team you’re going to be, and we’ve won that middle third. We’ve had our games that didn’t go well, but the games that we’ve had a chance to win we’ve pulled out. That’s what has made this team so special — all the exciting, thrilling, dramatic wins that we’ve been able to get.”

The list of memorable games included the playoff-clinching victory. The Dragons won despite collecting only one hit.

“That’s just indicative of the way the season has gone,” Nichols said. “We did what we had to do.”

“In baseball, you can’t beat the walk-off victory,” Murphy said. “The crowd loves it. You can really feel the energy.”

The playoff games, of course, are already sold out. Deutsch said fans who have season tickets for the entire season receive complementary playoff tickets, and holders of 16- or 18-game plans got 50% off playoff tickets.

“These season-ticket holders, many of them have been with us for five, 10, 15 or all 24 seasons,” Deutsch said. “They’ve been great supporters. Our community has been very loyal, and we’re very appreciative of that support.”

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam