Dykstra wins MiLBY for Best Individual Performance

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (Nov. 2, 2015) - Winston-Salem Dash right-hander James Dykstra earned the Fans' Choice MiLBY for "Best Individual Performance" thanks to his seven-inning no-hitter at Potomac on April 15, Minor League Baseball announced Monday. 

Dykstra needed just 71 pitches to breeze through seven no-hit innings in the opener of a doubleheader at Pfitzner Stadium. A batted ball did not reach the outfield against Dykstra during the 1-0 Winston-Salem victory. He allowed just one man to reach via a leadoff walk to Rafael Bautista in the fourth. However, Dykstra picked off Bautista before he delivered his next pitch, meaning that Dykstra never threw a pitch out of the stretch.

The 15th no-hitter in Winston-Salem franchise history, and the first since June of 2009, netted a remarkable 79 percent of the vote in the "Best Individual Performance" category; none of the other nine nominees received more than six percent. Since the MiLBY Awards were restructured in 2012, no Fans' Choice honoree has received a higher share of the vote than Dykstra.

This marks the Dash's first MiLBY Award since 2011, when Winston-Salem corralled a pair of victories. Outfielder Nick Ciolli won the "Play of the Year" after robbing a home run and flipping over the short fence down the right-field line at BB&T Ballpark. This play also earned Ciolli some publicity on various national programs, like ESPN's SportsCenter and Pardon the Interruption. Slugger Ian Gac, who earned the Carolina League's Most Valuable Player award, was the "Best Hitter" in Class A-Advanced baseball.

In addition to his masterful no-hitter, Dykstra was a Midseason All-Star and finished with the CL's seventh-best earned run average at 3.51. He helped the Dash win the second-half Southern Division championship with a 45-23 mark, the best second-half record in the league since 1987.

The Dash's 2016 season begins April 5 with a week-long road trip to Lynchburg and Myrtle Beach before the seventh season at BB&T Ballpark kicks off April 12 against the Salem Red Sox. For ticket information, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.