Eagle Jacob Hood reaches out for the throw at first base against the Dragons. The two Parks & Rec baseball teams squared off at Youth Sports Inc. on July 11.

Midway through the July 11 showdown between the Dragons and Eagles at Youth Sports Inc. the Dragons were staging a comeback.

In the bottom of the third, the Eagles held a 13-6 advantage, but the Dragons had already plated three runs in the inning and were threatening to reach the five-run maximum with runners on first and second.

Eagle Logan Smith had other ideas.

The shortstop snuffed out the rally, catching a line drive up the middle to end the inning. Despite the slick defense, Smith was modest about the play.

“All I did was catch it,” Smith said.

Both teams continued to score, but the Eagles kept enough distance between themselves and the Dragons to win 23-13 in Parks and Recreation Baseball action.

Eagles Smith and Adam Eudaly led the game off with authority, smacking back-to-back home runs in the first. Four straight Eagles reached base safely as the team scored its five-run limit. Sam Clark sent his brother Jack Clark home for the final run of the inning with a double.

Cooper Schmiedeler led off the Dragons’ first and reached on a single. He came around to score on another single by David Stubbs. Schmiedeler’s run would be the Dragons’ only run of the inning, but the Dragons had their most successful defensive stance in the top of the second.

Eight Eagles batted in the second, but only three crossed the plate. The Dragon defense made two force outs at second base and tagged out another base runner going from second to third to end the inning.

The Dragons loaded the bases in their half of the second on consecutive singles by Ben Bryant, Garrett McCoy and Tyler Robbins. Devin Barber and Armand Eich drove in Bryant and McCoy, giving the Dragons two more runs for the game.

The Eagle offense struck back in a big way in the third, sending nine hitters to the plate. Jackson Dwyer led the inning off with a triple and scored on a Jack Clark single. Smith added a single, which scored Jacob Hood.

The Eagles went on to score 10 runs in the last two innings combined on their way to victory. In doing so, 15 Eagle hitters came to the plate, 13 of whom reached safely. Hood highlighted the fourth with a two-run double to end the inning and Smith added to his impressive day with a three-run home run in the fifth.

“I think we came back quite a bit, but they were on top and you can only score five runs an inning,” Dragons coach Shaun McDowell said.

In the five-run fourth, the Dragons were down to their last out before they scored. Kalim Dowdell broke the inning open with a three-run home run before Zachary Carter and Stubbs knocked in the last two runs of the inning. For inspiration, Dowdell didn’t look to any big-name baseball players. Instead, he looked to one of the biggest sports stars around.

“I was just thinking of my favorite basketball player Shaquille O’Neal,” Dowdell said.

Although down by more than five runs heading into their last at-bat, the Dragons didn’t show any quit. Just as they’d done in the second inning, Barber and Eich drove in back-to-back runs, bringing the Dragons’ total to 13.

The night belonged to the Eagles, however, as their offense came to play.

“We go on a rotation and it was just the time for the big sluggers to come up first in the game,” Eagles coach Jarrod Smith said. “Even the ones that usually don’t hit home runs were hitting them tonight.”