Winston-Salem Takes Frederick to School in Education Day Thriller

The Winston-Salem Dash (2-2) walked off the Fredrick Keys (2-1) in the home opener on education day. The Dash emerged as winners in 10 innings after a back-and-forth finish.

As the bottom of the tenth rolled into Truist Stadium, the Dash needed a jolt down 6-4 to the Keys.

Ryan Burrowes prompted that spark. On the second pitch of the inning, Burrowes laced a triple into right field that scored Jacob Burke and brought the Dash within one. After a walk to Kyle Lodise, Caleb Bonemer dropped in a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Burrowes to score from third.

A few batters later, Alec Makarewicz stood in. The switch-hitting DH was due for a base knock, as he was 0-4 as he stepped in in the tenth.

Whack

Makarewicz roped a single over the head of Ike Irish at first base and scored Lodise.

The Dash mobbed Makarewicz in between first and second, and triumphed in a 7-6 win.

Winston-Salem struck first in the second inning. Anthony DePino led off with a single and moved to third after a double from George Wolkow. Makarewicz brought home the first run on a groundout before Colby Shelton added an RBI single to make it 2-0.

Fredericksburg responded in the fourth. After a pair of singles, Wehiwa Aloy lifted a sacrifice fly to center to cut the Dash lead to 2-1.

The Dash extended their advantage in the fifth. Shelton worked a walk and later came around to score on an RBI single from Burrowes, pushing the lead to 3-1.

Pitching and defense controlled the game through the middle innings before Frederick made its move late. In the eighth, Victor Figueroa launched a solo home run to bring the Nationals within one.

The ninth inning flipped the game entirely. The Keys rallied with multiple baserunners and capitalized with two runs to tie the game at 4-4 and forced extras.

In the tenth, the Nationals took their first lead of the afternoon. A pair of Dash errors opened the door, and Irish delivered a two-run single to put Frederick ahead 6-4.

But Winston-Salem didn’t fold.

Makarewicz delivered the biggest swing of the night with his walk-off single to right to score Kyle Lodise and seal the 7-6 victory.

The Dash used a mix of arms throughout the night, navigating traffic but limiting damage until late. Frederick’s bullpen faltered in the final frame, unable to hold the extra-inning lead.

Although Jack Young blew the save, the righty picked up the win and showed good toughness on the hill. For the Keys, Jacob Cravey took the loss.

Winston-Salem will look to build on the momentum in game two of the series at Truist Stadium.