Fish Walks it Off for Winston-Salem 8-7

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (August 11, 2022) — The Winston-Salem Dash went home walk-off winners in an 8-7 victory over Bowling Green.

The third game of this series got off to a loud start for the Hot Rods. Leadoff hitter Mason Auer walked, then immediately scored when the next batter Matt Dyer tripled into the left field corner. Then, Alika Williams lofted a sacrifice fly into center field to bring Dyer home with a 2-0 lead. The offense kept rolling for Bowling Green when the next batter, Heriberto Hernandez, crushed his second home run in as many days to put the Hot Rods ahead 3-0 after just half an inning.

The Dash did get a run back in the bottom half, thanks to an Alsander Womack triple followed by a Bryan Ramos single.

Luis Leon then opened up the top of the second with a solo home run to put the Hot Rods up 4-1.

On to the top of the third now, where Alika Williams walked then advanced to third base on consecutive wild pitches. Later in the frame, Tyler Frank dropped an RBI single into shallow center to make it a 5-1 advantage.

But the Dash rebounded in the home half of the third inning. With two outs already, Womack singled back up the middle. That brought up Bryan Ramos, who swatted his team-leading 19th home run to deep left field, nearly out of Truist Stadium entirely.

The comeback effort continued in the fourth, as Tyler Osik drew a leadoff walk. The next batter Keegan Fish got a first-pitch he could handle, and turned it around for a game-tying two run blast to make it a 5-5 game.

Bowling Green did not let this game stay tied for long. Alika Williams singled to center with one man out in the top of the fifth. Then after a strikeout, Logan Driscoll smoked a two-run home run of his own to give the Hot Rods the lead again, 7-5.

The Dash cut into the deficit in the home half of the frame, as Bryan Ramos laced a triple into the right field corner. That allowed him to come home on the sacrifice fly by Luis Mieses, and Winston-Salem trailed by just a run after five innings.

The sixth inning was scoreless from both sides, the first time neither team scored in an inning all game. But in the bottom of the seventh, Alsander Womack opened the inning with a single. A wild pitch saw Womack take second base, then Bryan Ramos reached base on an E6 with Womack alertly moving to third. Tyler Osik then tied the game up with his RBI groundout to second base.

Reliever Luis Amaya pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth inning for the Dash, giving them a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth. After a Womack strikeout, Ramos walked and then Mieses singled to push Ramos up 90 feet. Next up, Tyler Osik singled into center field but Ramos was held up at third base. That brought Keegan Fish up to bat. He took strike one, then lifted a fly ball into right field. Heriberto Hernandez made the catch, but it was plenty deep enough for Bryan Ramos to race home with the game-winning run, as the Dash pulled out an 8-7 victory. Amaya was the official winner, with Cameron Leonard taking the loss.