DANVILLE — When Danville Stadium public address announcer Greg Green announced the new DuPage Dragon pitcher in the eight inning, Danville’s Dabo Worthington got a big smile on his face.

That’s because the new pitcher was former Danville Post 210 teammate Taylor Dennis from Danville Area Community College.

“When I heard they had a new pitcher, I looked out on the mound and I was like, no, not him’’ Worthington said. “We have been joking about this for a long time.

“I told him before he even started playing for DuPage this summer, that if I ever faced him, I was going to try to keep the ball in the park, for him.’’

And, the situation couldn’t have been any bigger for either team as the Dans and the Dragons were tied at 1-1 in the eighth.

“I wanted to laugh so hard when I was staring at him on the mound,’’ Worthington said.

After missing on the first pitch, Dennis challenged Worthington with a fastball and the result with a double off the left-centerfield wall.

Worthington went on to score on a sacrifice fly by Scott Schauer as the Danville Dans beat the Dragons 3-1.

Dennis, the Covington native, was saddled with the loss.

“Knowing who Taylor is, I was sitting on his fastball,’’ Worthington said. “I knew my role in that situation was to get on base and get something started for my team.’’

Worthington admitted that he failed in his role during his previous at-bat as he struck out with runners in scoring position in the fifth inning.

That’s why he commended Schauer for delivering that sacrifice fly in the eighth.

“That was the sign of a good approach at the plate,’’ Worthington said. “He went up there and got the job done. That’s good team baseball.’’

Schauer said he was just looking for a fastball out over the plate that he could drive.

The sacrifice fly made up for his 0-for-3 night.

“I’m not upset with my at-bats, but it’s always nice to get game-winning RBIs, even when you do make an out on a hard-hit ball,’’ he said. “But, Dabo gets all the credit.

“He got that leadoff double and if we can’t score a run in that situation, we don’t deserve to win.’’

Paciorek pointed out that Schauer had four great at-bats even though he didn’t have a hit to show for it.

“When you have a good approach and good at-bats, you just need to build on that,’’ he said. “Eventually, things will even out and you will be getting those hits.

“Getting that sacrifice fly there in the eighth was a sign of a mature hitter, to go up there and know what approach he needed to have.’’

In addition to being pleased with his team’s offensive execution in the eighth inning, Paciorek also pointed that the Danville pitchers had a great game against DuPage.

Justin Amlung started and went the first 5Ð innings, allowing just one unearned run.

“Justin has been having some really good starts for us, but we just can’t seem to get him a lot of run support,’’ said Paciorek.

When Amlung got into a little trouble in the sixth, the Dans turned to reliever Richie Goodenow.

The left-hander from Vanderbuilt struck out DuPage’s Barrett Serrato to get out of the sixth and he only allowed a single in the seventh.

“It was great to see Richie after a few weeks off back on the mound,’’ Paciorek said. “His slider is dirty and he has a real good plan on the mound.

“Richie is a guy that you could see a lefty specialist in the big leagues.’’

But, the best pitching for Danville came in the final two innings as Ryan Cabral struck out four of the seven batters he faced to get his first-ever Prospect League victory.

“Ryan Cabral threw outstanding, second outing in a row,’’ Paciorek said. “His fastball was electric with a nasty slider. That is the hardest I’ve seen him throw the ball.’’

With the win, Danville (19-18) takes sole possession of second place in the Prospect League’s West Division, giving them the inside track to a postseason tournament berth.

“This is a huge week for us with so many home games,’’ Schauer said. “We still think we can with the title, if we get on a roll here.’’

Up next for Danville is a doubleheader tonight against the Hannibal Cavemen at Danville Stadium. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.