Dykstra tosses 15th no-hitter in franchise history

Right-hander holds P-Nats hitless in seven-inning twin bill opener

April 15, 2015

WOODBRIDGE, Va. (April 15, 2015) - Right-hander James Dykstra tossed the 15th no-hitter in Winston-Salem history in the Dash's 1-0 win at Potomac in Wednesday's doubleheader opener at Pfitzner Stadium.

Dykstra's seven-inning gem is the first Winston-Salem no-no since Levi Maxwell accomplished the feat on June 19, 2009, at Wilmington, which was also a twin bill opener.

The right-hander did not allow a ball to reach the outfield in his sterling effort, during which he needed just 71 pitches. He allowed just one man to reach thanks to a walk against Rafael Bautista to begin the fourth. However, Dykstra picked off Bautista before he threw his next pitch.

Dykstra (2-0) recorded the other 20 outs via 14 groundouts, three strikeouts, two popouts and a lineout. In his two starts thus far this season, Dykstra has surrendered just one hit over 13 innings.

His no-hitter was only in jeopardy twice. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Isaac Ballou laced a line drive to the left side of the infield, only for third baseman Trey Michalczewski, who had shifted from his normal spot behind the bag to snare it on a snow-cone catch.

Then, in the bottom of the seventh, Wilmer Difo hit a dribbler in front of the mound. Dykstra fielded the ball but then threw wide towards first. However, Difo was called out for running out of the baseline. Dykstra completed the history-making outing by inducing a Christopher Bostick groundout.

Potomac (2-4) starter Nick Pivetta blanked the Dash (3-3) over five innings, but Winston-Salem pushed across the game's lone run in the sixth against reliever Justin Thomas (0-1). Michalczewski coaxed a two-out walk, and Keon Barnum followed with an RBI double to right for his team-leading sixth RBI.

Winston-Salem aims for a series sweep and a winning road trip in the finale of this doubleheader, which will begin around 12:45 p.m. The Dash send southpaw Andre Wheeler (0-0, 0.00 ERA) to the hill for his first High-A start, while Potomac counters with righty Dakota Bacus (0-0, 0.00 ERA). Coverage is available on wsdash.com/broadcast and the TuneIn App.