Dash Bats Come Alive to Win Final Game of Series Against Rome

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (May 15, 2022) — In the final game of their six-game series, the Winston-Salem Dash defeated the Rome Braves 5-1, using offensive outbursts in the sixth and seventh inning and great pitching in all nine innings.

The Braves would strike first in the bottom of the second. Justyn-Henry Malloy led off the inning with a single and then after a flyout, Javier Valdes and Bryson Horne would follow Malloy’s lead and hit singles as well, loading the bases. Willie Carter hit a sacrifice fly to bring Malloy in, but Dash starter Chase Solesky would get the next batter to ground out to end the inning. From there on out, it was shutout pitching from Winston-Salem as Solesky, Jesus Valles and Vince Vannelle would end any and all hopes of Rome sweeping the Dash and winning their sixth straight. The trio combined to allow just eight hits and two walks the entire game, including Valles striking out two over the course of three innings and Vannelle not allowing a single hit in the ninth inning.

The Dash’s bats were quieted by Rome starter Andrew Hoffman through five innings, but once his replacement Lisandro Santos entered the game in the sixth inning, they came to life. Santos walked the first three batters he saw to load the bases and Harvin Mendoza would drive two of those runners in to put the Dash up 2-1. Santos would retire the next three batters, but the Winston-Salem offense wasn’t done just yet. In the seventh inning, Oscar Colas hit a one-out solo home run over the right-field wall to add one more run to the Dash’s total, and then two batters later, Luis Mieses would do the same, making the score 4-1.

Colas and Mieses would strike again in the ninth inning as Colas hit a single to open the inning, and Mieses would drive him in on a double to right field that allowed Colas to score. The Braves wouldn’t be able to retaliate in the bottom of the frame, giving the Dash the win to end their road trip to Rome.