Winston-Salem wins Pitcher's Duel 2-1

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (June 24, 2022) — The Winston-Salem Salsa pulled out a narrow 2-1 win over the Hudson Valley Renegades.

The first game of the second half of the season unfolded as a bona fide pitcher’s duel.

Chase Solesky took the ball for Winston-Salem, and worked a scoreless first frame. For Hudson Valley, Beck Way returned the favor in the bottom of the first.

In the top of the second inning though, Tyler Hardman crushed the first pitch he saw out towards the walkway in left field, for a solo home run.

Solesky held the deficit at just 1-0 into the bottom of the fourth, when the Salsa clawed back.

Colson Montgomery, the White Sox top overall prospect, delivered a leadoff home run to tie the game at 1-1. That also extended his on-base streak to 33 consecutive games.

Both starters continued to dominate through the sixth inning. Way was lifted with two outs in the sixth, but turned in a very solid line of 5.2 innings, 1 earned run, and five punchouts. Solesky, on the other hand, worked six full frames, with just the one run to his line and five strikeouts as well.

Skyler Arias relieved Solesky, and worked a 1-2-3 top of the seventh with a pair of swinging strikeouts. Then in the home half, Luis Mieses smoked a one out double into the right center field gap. Adam Hackenberg then pushed Mieses to third with a fielder’s choice groundout. Up next was Harvin Mendoza, he chopped a grounder to shortstop, but the throw to first was wide of the bag, and Mieses scored on the defensive miscue.

Arias worked a scoreless eighth inning, before turning the ball over to Vince Vannelle for the ninth. Vannelle allowed a single, but ultimately struck out three Renegades to preserve a 2-1 Winston-Salem win. He got the save, with Solesky earning the win, and Carlos Gómez took the loss.