Dash Sneak Past Braves 5-4 in Extra innings

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (May 9, 2021) – The Winston-Salem Dash snuck past the Rome Braves 5-4 in extra innings on Sunday afternoon.

Skipper Ryan Newman gave the start to Davis Martin, while Bryce Elder was called to the mound by Kanekoa Texeira for Rome.

The Dash took an early lead in the first. Duke Ellis led off with a single, and trekked home on a stinger off the bat of Alex Destino.

The bats kept rolling in the second frame, as Luis Curbelo reached second base on a throwing error by Kevin Josephina. Curbelo reached third on a fielder’s choice groundout, and soon crossed the plate after Travis Moniot flied out to left field.

The only run Martin allowed came in the third inning, when Kevin Josephina scored on a single from Riley Delgado.

Vincenzo Aiello entered to begin the sixth in relief for Davis Martin. Aiello walked the leadoff man Riley Delgado, who stole second to put himself in scoring position. Aiello balked to give Delgado third base and was pulled after walking Bryce Ball with only one away. Shortly after, Lane Ramsey took over on the hill and gave up a game-tying RBI single to Logan Brown.

Bryce Bush led off the home half of the sixth for Winston-Salem and reached first on an errant throw from shortstop Garrett Saunders. Bush snatched second, advanced to third on a wild pitch from Trey Riley and scored on a Lenyn Sosa single to give the Dash a 3-2 lead.

Rome struck once more in the eighth to tie the game at 3 apiece. Riley Delgado took reliever Caleb Freeman to the cleaners on a solo shot to left field.

A bases-loaded, groundout double play in the ninth was the closest the Dash came to walking it off in regulation. Duke Ellis knocked a chopper up the middle to send the game into extra innings for the first time in 2021.

The Braves sent Andrew Moritz to pinch-run for the previous pinch runner Jose Bermudez who was banged up after a tough slide into third in the ninth. Moritz crossed home on a line drive hit by Garrett Saunders, giving Rome a 4-3 lead. Freeman managed to stop the bleeding, striking out Bryce Ball and forcing a Logan Brown flyout to center field.

Duke Ellis found himself on second base to begin the bottom of the 10th. Bryce Bush led off with a walk and both men came home on an Alex Destino single that was fielded and overthrown by center fielder Michael Harris II. The tall heave from right-center sent Bush home and secured the 5-4 victory for the second win of the year for Winston-Salem. The error was one of four charged to Rome, who saw the Dash rack up three unearned runs in their second loss of the season.

The Dash travel to Hickory, NC for a six-game series against the Crawdads which begins on Tuesday, May 11 and runs through Sunday, May 16. They will head to Jersey Shore and face the Blueclaws the week after, finally coming home to Winston-Salem to finish out the month in a six-game series versus Hickory at Truist Stadium.