After staking their claim as the team to beat in the OAA I by winning their first four league games, the Dragons have gone backwards.
A May 8 home loss to West Bloomfield was the third straight league defeat for Lake Orion.
In the 3-2 loss, the Dragons wasted a complete game performance from Jon Ruggeri that included nine strikeouts.
Even with one of the state’s most potent lineups, run scoring has been the biggest problem for LO as of late.
‘If we’re not going to score at least three runs, we’re not going to win a lot of games,? said coach Andy Schramek.
After being shutout for six innings, the Dragons finally cracked West Bloomfield starter Danny Richard in the bottom of the seventh inning. A Ross Tonyan RBI double cut the LO deficit to 3-1.
Lee Dickinson then reached base on an error, which sent Tonyan to third. But Richard picked off Dickinson after faking to third and throwing to first.
During the rundown with Dickinson, Tonyan scored to make it 3-2. But Richard struck out the next LO batter to end the game.
‘Our effort was there today,? Schramek said. ‘We just ran into a very good pitcher.?
LO is now 14-8 overall and 4-3 in league play.
The team’s first league loss came in a 6-3 setback against Troy on May 4.
Lake Orion had many opportunities, with 11 Dragons reaching base, but couldn’t quite solve Troy pitcher Scott Nohl. Jon Krause gave up all six Troy runs to pick up the loss.
Ross Tonyan tripled and Joe Barnes doubled for the Dragons who then fell to previously winless Rochester on May 5 to absorb back-to-back league defeats.
The Dragons fell behind 5-0 after Rochester scored four runs in the third.
LO made it 5-2 in the fifth and added another in the sixth before a double-play ended their scoring threat.
The Dragons also had the bases loaded in the final inning but couldn’t push across any runs.
LO has lost four of their past five games, with the win coming in the second game of a doubleheader with Chippewa Valley on May 6.