Dash vs. Bowling Green: Game #103 Preview
Winston-Salem Dash (49–53) vs. Bowling Green Hot Rods (63–37)
Tuesday, August 9–7:00 p.m.
Truist Stadium (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Game 102 Recap
The Winston-Salem Dash secured a series split with a 5–2 win over the Brooklyn Cyclones in the series finale.
Neither club could scratch across a run, until the top of the third inning. Duke Ellis led the frame off with a first-pitch double to right, then he advanced to third on a fielder’s choice ground out. Next up was Bryan Ramos, and he doubled to center field to score Ellis, and give Winston-Salem the 1–0 edge.
Tommy Sommer tossed two more scoreless innings in the third and fourth, before the bats picked him up in the top of the fifth. It began again with Duke Ellis, as he singled, stole second base, then moved up to third on a wild pitch. After a walk, Bryan Ramos tallied another RBI with a sacrifice fly which allowed Ellis to cross the plate.
Armed with a 2–0 lead now, Sommer ran into some trouble in the home half of the fifth. Jose Peroza and Joe Suozzi both singled to open the inning, then Matt Rudick walked on five pitches to load the bases. Shervyen Newton was then able to cut the Dash lead in half with a sacrifice fly to plate Peroza. Sommer struck out Gregory Guerrero for out number two, but after allowing a single to Rowdey Jordan, that was it for Sommer. Nick Gallagher entered from the Dash bullpen, and induced a pop-out to end the inning. That put Sommer’s final line score at 4.2 innings of one-run ball, while setting a new high-water mark in a Dash uniform with six strikeouts.
Brooklyn was able to stage a two-out rally in the sixth, starting with a walk and stolen base by Peroza, then Suozzi was hit by a pitch. That lead to a change on the mound, as Wilber Perez replaced Gallagher. He walked Matt Rudick to load the bases, but rung up Shervyen Newton on strikes to escape the jam with no damage.
Duke Ellis reached base for the third time of the game on a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh, although he was caught trying to steal second. Later, with two outs, Bryan Ramos singled and Ben Norman walked to put traffic on the basepaths for Winston-Salem. Then, Tyler Osik pushed the advantage to 3–1 with his opposite-field single to plate Ramos.
After two quick outs in the top of the eighth, Caberea Weaver reached on an E5. Duke Ellis then smacked his third hit of the day, an RBI double to give Winston-Salem a 4–1 lead. However, Matt Rudick cracked a solo home run in the bottom of the frame to bring the deficit back to two runs.
In the ninth for Winston-Salem, Bryan Ramos worked a walk, then Ben Norman singled with Ramos alertly going first-to-third. Tyler Osik then got Ramos home with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Luis Amaya got the nod for the bottom of the ninth, and he retired the Cyclones in order to lock down a 5–2 Dash win. Amaya got the save, with Nick Gallagher taking the win, and Luis Moreno was saddled with the loss.
CYCLING ALL OVER BROOKLYN
On August 3, Tyler Osik hit for the cycle in what was an 8–0 win for the Dash. He did it via doubling in the top of the second, hitting a home run in the top of the fourth, tripling in the top of the fifth, and rounding it out with a single to lead off the eighth inning. In addition to the cycle, Osik went 9-for-17 in the series with two home runs and five RBIs, getting on base in 55% of his at-bats.
DUKE DIGGIN’
Duke Ellis has been consistent all year in showing off his speed. On the basepaths, Ellis has been a terror, as he’s in first place in the South Atlantic League in stolen bases with 45, leading second place by 11 SBs, and is first in runs in the league with 68.
WINSTON-SALEM SLUMP
Since July 12, the Dash have hit a rough patch, going 4–11 in their last four series. Against Asheville, they split the first two games before the Tourists won four straight games. Again, against Rome, they split the first two games before Rome won the next game in the three-game series. Then in the I-40 rivalry, the Dash lost the first two games before taking game three. The Grasshoppers won the next two games before Winston-Salem closed out the series with a win. In Brooklyn they picked up their pace, winning the first two games. However, they’d lose the next three games but would pick up a win in the series finale, splitting the series with the Cyclones. Despite splitting the series, the Dash haven’t managed to win a series since they played Hudson Valley from June 21–26.
STORMIN’ NORMAN
After batting .150 in the month of June, Ben Norman has turned it around, putting together a sensational July and August. In 24 games, Norman has batted .323, with nine home runs and 22 RBIs, leading the Dash in both batting average and HRs. A part of his strong two months was a 10-game span between July 23 and August 3 where Norman hit six HRs and amassed 13 RBIs.
WINSTON TOWER POWER
Luis Mieses and Bryan Ramos have been two of the most effective hitters in the South Atlantic League when playing at home. Mieses is tied for second in the league in RBIs with 36 while Ramos is in fourth with 34. Ramos has also hit the ball out of Truist Stadium eight times this year, tied for the tenth-best mark in the league.
WALK THIS WAY
In July, the Dash had the most walks in the South Atlantic League with 114, one of only four teams to record 100+ walks in the month. In addition, they were second in the league in batting average with an overall average of .360, trailing first-place Rome by just four percentage points.
DASH DEFENSIVE EXCELLENCE
From July 28 to August 5, the Dash’s fielding was the best it’s been all year as for eight straight games, they played error-free baseball, their longest such streak of the season.
First pitch is slated for 7:00 p.m.
