Three Homers Push Dash to 9-6 Win

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (July 23, 2022) — 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.