Dash vs. Rome: Game #90 Preview
Winston-Salem Dash (44–45) vs. Rome Braves (52–37)
Sunday, July 24–1:00 p.m.
Truist Stadium (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Game 89 Recap
The Winston-Salem Dash racked up 12 hits in their 9–6 win over the Rome Braves.
The Braves got on the board in the first inning, against Christian Mena. Leadoff man Caleb Durbin singled on the first pitch of the game, then Cal Conley doubled on the very next pitch to plate Durbin with the game’s first run. After Conley swiped third base, he scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Drew Campbell.
Winston-Salem battled back in the home half of the second, which got underway when Luis Mieses reached first on an error. He was pushed to second base on a groundout, then Tyler Osik pushed Mieses across on a line drive double to right center field. Later in the inning, Ben Norman tied the game with a bloop single into center to score Osik.
However, the Braves opened the top of the third with a Conley walk, then a Tyler Tolve double put runners on second and third. After a strikeout, Drew Campbell doubled to score both runners and Rome pulled back ahead 4–2.
Colson Montgomery worked a walk to open the home third, then stole second base, and also advanced to third base when the throw from the catcher Javier Valdes sailed into center field. Then, Luis Mieses singled past a diving Caleb Durbin to score Montgomery and make it a 4–3 ballgame.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Winston-Salem got the bats rolling in the bottom of the fifth. Bryan Ramos smoked the first pitch of the frame into the Appalachian Mountain Brew-Pen for a leadoff home run, his team-high 15th of the season. Luis Mieses then followed suit with a towering blast off the top of the center field wall, as the Dash went back-to-back to jump ahead of the Braves 5–4.
The offense kept rolling in the bottom of the sixth. Alsander Womack and Ben Norman both singled to start the frame, then Duke Ellis laid down a textbook bunt up the third base line to load the bases with no outs. Colson Montgomery then singled into right field to plate Womack, before Bryan Ramos was issued a four-pitch walk to push Norman home, to give the Dash a 7–4 edge. Later in the inning, a wild pitch let Ellis score to make it 8–4 Dash.
Ben Norman made it a 9–4 lead, when he cranked a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Rome Braves got a run back in the eighth on a leadoff home run by Javier Valdes, before starting a rally in the ninth. Cal Conley walked to lead off the frame, then advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Landon Stephens then doubled off the very top of the right field wall, but Conely had to stop at third base. Drew Campbell was able to drive Conley home on a sacrifice fly to left field, but that was all Rome could manage as the Dash evened the series with a 9–6 win. Wilber Perez grabbed his second win of the year, while Roddery Munoz took the loss.
MONTGOMERY MAKING CONTACT
Colson Montgomery has carried over his hot streak from Kannapolis to Winston-Salem. Through 20 games he has a .301 average and .416 on-base percentage, including four home runs and 10 RBIs. In Friday’s game, he failed to reach base, ending his on-base streak at 50 games, which is the longest in the minors this season.
DUKE DIGGIN’
Duke Ellis has been consistent all year in showing off his contact and speed. On the basepaths, Ellis has been a terror, as he’s in first place in the South Atlantic League in stolen bases with 38 and is tied for first place in runs in the league with 62. Meanwhile, from the batter’s box, he’s got on base reliably as he’s in ninth place in batting average in the league with a .302 average.
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 second in the league in RBIs with 35 while Ramos is right behind him 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.
HOME COOKING
In their last 6 games at home, the Dash have been dominant, going 17–9. Winston-Salem took five out of the six games against Greenville before narrowly winning their series, four games to two, against their I-40 rivals, the Greensboro Grasshoppers. The Dash split the series with Hudson Valley through four games but took the latter two to win the series four games to two. The Dash then took three out of six games against Wilmington and split the first two games against Rome to give them a 65.3% winning percentage through 26 games.
First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m.
