Wood Ducks hold off Dash to split series

KINSTON, N.C. (June 29, 2017) - The Dash pushed the tying run 90 feet away in the final frame, but Adam Choplick and the Wood Ducks held strong to eke past Winston-Salem 3-2 in Thursday's series finale at Grainger Stadium.
With the Dash (5-3, 29-49) trailing 3-2 entering the top of the ninth, Danny Mendick singled to left against Down East (4-3, 28-48) reliever Kelvin Vasquez (1-0) to open the inning and quickly took second on his 11th steal of the year. Joel Booker laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move Mendick to third base, prompting Choplick to replace Vasquez on the rubber.

The tall left-hander swiftly induced a groundout from Luis Basabe before striking out Zack Collins to end the threat and nail down his first save of the year. The win brought about a four-game series split between these two division rivals in their final meeting in Kinston.
The Wood Ducks notched the winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Winston-Salem reliever Ian Hamilton (0-2) retired the first five batters he faced in his outing, but Yanio Perez worked his way aboard on an infield single to third. Perez swiped second base, and Luis La O lined a sharp grounder to center that clanked off the glove of Hamilton and sent Perez speeding to the plate for the go-ahead run.
After stranding runners at second and third in the first against Woodies starter Brett Martin, the Dash broke through in the succeeding frame. Mendick ripped an RBI single, the first of his three hits in the contest, to give Winston a 1-0 lead and end the club's 11-inning scoreless streak.
The Dash added a run in the fourth on Johan Cruz's 13th double of the season that brought around Louis Silverio, who led off the frame with a double down the left field line.
The Woodies knotted the contest at two by tallying a run in the fourth and fifth innings. La O planted an RBI double to center that cut Winston-Salem's lead in half at 2-1. The All-Star's run-scoring knock capped the Dash's rotation's incredible streak of not allowing an earned run at 33.2 innings, which stretched back to last Friday.
In the Wood Ducks' next offensive frame, Matt Lipka came through with two down, plating Chuck Moorman on an RBI single to left on a full count offering from Winston-Salem starter Bernardo Flores. Flores recorded a quality start in his High-A debut, tossing six innings and allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four over 82 pitches.
Martin lasted just 3.1 innings in his first start since May 6 due to a back injury, and he surrendered two runs on four hits while walking three and fanning a pair.
Jacob Shortslef and Vasquez hurled five shutout frames in relief of Martin, collecting a combined six strikeouts while scattering four hits.
Winston-Salem now embarks on the second leg of its eight-game road stretch with a four-game set against the Carolina Mudcats beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. inside Five County Stadium in Zebulon. Jimmy Lambert (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who spun six no-hit frames in his High-A debut last Saturday, makes his second start for the Dash, and he will be opposed by Muddies right-hander Cody Ponce (6-5, 3.36 ERA). Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. on wsdash.com/broadcast, MiLB.tv and the TuneIn Radio App.
The Dash's next home game is their annual Fourth of July Extravaganza, which is set for Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. against the Wood Ducks. The festivities begin with a free pregame party from 4-6:30 p.m. on First Street. Tickets for the game start as low as $9 in advance, but seats will sell out. To guarantee your seat for the only Fourth of July Fireworks Show in Winston-Salem, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.