Do Dragons hibernate? 

 

The long, cold winter is over, but it seems the Doncaster Dragons haven't shaken off the winter blues, judging by the first-up performance against Blackburn on Sunday.

 

The Dragons lost 14-0 in a game that never  reached any great heights and was surely not a true indication of the relative strengths of the two teams.

 

Opening Day of the 2015-16 Summer League season seemingly arrived all of a sudden, as it was the day after the AFL grand final instead of a week later, as had been the case in recent seasons.

 

It didn't take long for the visiting Orioles to stamp their authority on the game as they scored three runs in the first inning, while the Dragons went three-up-three-down in the bottom half.

 

Things improved for a while after that as Lachlan Parsonage, an Ice Dragon making his Summer League debut on the mound, settled in and kept the Orioles offence in check for the next four innings.

 

But while Parsonage was keeping his team in the game, the Doncaster offence couldn't produce any runs. Blackburn starter Jesse Gavin was solid through five innings, allowing just five singles and no walks.

 

When Parsonage departed after six innings, he was replaced by Simon Fitzmaurice, who pitched two innings for one earned run. Marcel D'Avoine and Ben Utting shared relief duties in the ninth, but by then the Blackburn lead had become insurmountable.

 

The Dragons did not have an extra-base hit for the game, collecting eight singles.

 

Billy Findlay was the first Dragon to get a hit for the season, driving one to left field before  being thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

 

The other hits were by Michael Mazzocato and Brendan McDonald, who collected two each, and by Scott Carr, Callum Lethborg and D'Avoine.

 

After an inauspicious start, the Dragons will be looking to bounce back next week with a home game against Waverley on Saturday.