Corn Dogs Grab First Win Against the Miracle, Move to 15-6

By Noel Fary

The Lake County Corn Dogs started their three-game homestand with a much needed 10-6 victory over the Elkhart County Miracle on Friday, seeing their offense return with full force and continuing a dominant stretch of pitching.

Corn Dogs ace Ryan Troxel returned to the mound and wasted no time racking up the strikeouts once again. Troxel finished with seven innings pitched, six strikeouts, one walk and the win on the day.

Check out the box score from the game.

The Miracle put the first run on the board in the top of the first, appearing just as capable of victory as the first two matchups of the season.

Tides turned in the bottom of the second inning when Tyler Schultz blasted a sky-high ball over the right field wall, tying the game 1-1. Schultz earned himself Macron Player of the Game and finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

Even after the solo shot, the Corn Dogs had yet to take a lead over the Miracle the entire season and have a moment where they truly showed Elkhart County what they were capable of. That changed as Matt Santana rocketed a base hit passed the defense with the bases loaded, and the Corn Dogs never looked back.

Manager Justin Huisman felt the victory was needed at this point in the season.

“This team beat us twice at their place, so there’s a little bit of wanting to get back at them,” Huisman said. “Just show them we’re better than we showed at their place.”

The offense piled on for the Corn Dogs, with all but two players reaching base at least one time in the contest. Santana, Kevin Hall, and Ranko Stevanovic all stood as out players who contributed to the victory.

The Corn Dogs snapped a two-game losing streak with the win, the first time the team has lost two straight since June 9 of last year. Huisman believes the Corn Dogs finally capitalized and look to put that stretch behind them.

“We’ve had runners in scoring position, we just weren’t getting big hits and getting the job done,” Huisman said. “Tonight, we did that.”

The Corn Dogs face the Southland Vikings for the second game of the homestand on Saturday and look to remain undefeated against the team.