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MLB

White Sox promote Dash alumnus Smith to bigs

33 Winston-Salem players have reached Major Leagues in Dash era
By
April 24, 2016

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (April 24, 2016) - The Chicago White Sox announced Sunday that catcher Kevan Smith, who played with Winston-Salem in 2012 and 2013, has earned a promotion to the Major Leagues for the first time in his career.

Smith becomes the 33rd Winston-Salem alumnus to reach the Major Leagues during the Dash era, which began in 2009. All but one of those suited up for the White Sox in their big league debuts.

The former Pittsburgh Panther, who started three games as the football program's quarterback before focusing on baseball, joined Winston-Salem late in July of 2012 and hit a grand slam in his Dash debut. Down the stretch that season, he posted a .281 average in 22 regular season games with the Dash and hit two critical home runs during the club's surge to the Mills Cup Finals.

The Cranberry Township, Penn., native spent all of 2013 in the Carolina League and hit .281 over 101 games. On the circuit, Smith finished in the top 10 in batting average (10th, .286), home runs (T-10th, 12) and RBIs (7th, 73). He was either first or second among catchers in those categories.

Following his stint in Winston-Salem, Smith earned an All-Star nod while in Double-A Birmingham in 2014. He was with Triple-A Charlotte throughout 2015 and had hit .345 with two homers and six RBIs in eight games with the Knights this year before his promotion.

Winston-Salem has graduated 341 players to the Major Leagues, with 33 of them coming since the nickname change to Dash prior to the 2009 season. Smith is the second Dash alumni to reach "The Show" for the first time this year. Right-hander Michael Ynoa joined the club on April 10 while Adam Eaton was on the Paternity List, but the White Sox game was postponed due to rain that day. He returned to the Minors the next day and is currently with Charlotte.

The red-hot Dash strive for a series sweep at Salem on Sunday before returning to BB&T Ballpark for a three-game series with Lynchburg from Tuesday to Thursday. Tuesday's series opener is the first All-You-Can-Eat for Free Night, and fans can purchase their tickets by calling (336) 714-2287 or visiting wsdash.com.