Round 2 saw the Dragons have their first game at home for the year against the Moorabbin Panthers and it didn’t take long for the men to pile on the pressure. Batting second in the lineup Takumi Tanaka walked and then promptly stole second. Tanaka was then driven in by a single through the left side by Centre Fielder Jean Alvarado. Hard baserunning by Alvarado ensured he got to second base on an Owen de Vries grounder to 3rd forcing an error meaning both were safe. Similarly with the next hitter Brian Chen who was playing his first game for summer grounding to second base but was able to make it to first after de Vries slide pressured an errant throw. Alvarado then kept running all the way home to put us up to an early 2-0 lead.

After a shaky debut last week where he never gave up young lefty (where have we heard those words before?) Aimon Dowling was making his second start and he looked like a different kid. Throwing with confidence and with what seemed like higher velocity Dowling cut his walks in half and struck out 8 in his 4.1 innings of work for no runs in a good showing for him.

In the 3rd inning de Vries continued his power surge by thumping a no doubter long and high over the new scoreboard to push the lead out to 3-0.

Also returning after a week off was last years pitching stand out John Britton who took over from Dowling. Britton would pitch the rest of the journey and in doing so pick up his first Premier Division Win although he would not have it all his own way as Moorabbin would mount a come back with a solo home run in the 5th and an unearned run in the 6th.

The Dragons would respond though with a lead off walk to Liam Robertson who advanced to second base on a wild pitch in the 7th inning. Lead off hitter Brendan McDonald promptly drilled a double to score Robertson. Leading off the 8th inning Alvarado smoked a double down the right field line and then scored on a Chen single making it a 5-2 lead.

The lead would be handy though as Moorabbin kept fighting with a walk and a 2-run home run making things interesting. But Britton steadied the ship to strikeout the next hitter and induce a fly ball to centre field meaning for the first time in a long time we have a Premier Division win.

The Dragons next take on Port Melbourne again at Deep Creek this Sunday.