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Winston-Salem Dash

Season Finale Dash Game Notes

September 5, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (37-32, 69-70) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (29-38, 59-78)

Monday, September 5, 2011, 2:05 p.m. | Lynchburg City Stadium | Lynchburg, VA

Webcast available on www.wsdash.com 15 minutes before first pitch

Game No. 140 | Road Game No. 69 | 2011 Home Record 39-32 | 2011 Road Record 30-38

RHP Jake Petricka (4-7, 4.38) @ RHP David Hale (3-6, 4.12)

Gone in 60 Seconds: Just about a minute before the Dash and Hillcats got underway last night, Winston-Salem was officially eliminated from postseason contention. Kinston entered the day with a magic number of two to clinch a playoff spot and won both games of a doubleheader to seal a return trip to the postseason. Although playoff baseball was no longer a possibility when the game started, Winston-Salem showed the strength of its resolve by overturning a late one-run deficit and beating Lynchburg 5-4. After Joey Terdoslavich hit a three-run home run in the third inning to tie the game at three, Keenan Wiley hit an inside-the-park home run to give the Hillcats the lead. Winston tied the game on Tyler Saladino's RBI single in the seventh inning and Andy Wilkins gave the Dash the final lead with a solo home run to lead off the eighth. The teams will play the rubber game of their three-game series in the regular season finale this afternoon.

End of an Era: The sequence of events that unfolded yesterday meant that Winston-Salem will not head to the postseason for the first time since 2007, ending a string of three straight trips to the Carolina League playoffs. The Dash were trying to match the team record of four consecutive playoff runs, a feat that was initially accomplished in the 1949-1952 seasons and has not been equaled since.

Sometimes you save the best for last: Friday night's crowd of 7,207 was the biggest of the season, topping the 7,143 that saw the Dash and Red Sox on July 3. It was also the second biggest in the two-year history at BB&T Ballpark, falling just short of the record 7,268 on July 2, 2010. Friday night's game helped the Dash set a new attendance record for the second straight season. The final regular season home attendance was 312,416, eclipsing last year's total of 312,313. The average game attendance was 4,663, also higher than last year's mark of 4,593. Both this year's average and total attendance lead all 30 Advanced-A organizations.

Most Likely to Succeed: On Thursday, Ian Gac was named the Most Valuable Player in the Carolina League, the first time a Winston player has captured the league's highest honor since Leo Daigle won it in 2005. He became the ninth Winston-Salem player to be awarded the MVP/Player of the Year Award in the Carolina League, blowing away opposing hurlers with a monstrous offensive season (see note below). He was also named to the postseason All-Star team as the DH while teammate Andy Wilkins earned the utility infield spot on the team. Both players have been highly valuable to the Dash this season, especially when they go deep. Winston-Salem is 21-9 (.700) when Gac homers and just 48-61 (.440) when he does not. Sixteen of Gac's 33 homers this season have either tied the game or given the Dash the lead. The Dash are 14-6 (.700) when Andy Wilkins hits a home run and have won 14 of the last 16 games during which the Oklahoman has homered.

Matching the Jersey Number: Ian Gac smoked his 33rd home run of the season to cap a six-run second inning on Wednesday night for Winston-Salem. The blast, the 160th of his pro career, set a new single-season career-high for the slugger, surpassing the 32 home runs he hit in 2008 with the Rangers organization. Gac has now hit more home runs in a Carolina League season than any player since 1997 when Kinston's Daniel Peoples hit 34. If he hits two more home runs in the last game, he will tie the Winston-Salem record (Joe Olivares hit 35 in 1960) and have hit the most homers in any Carolina League season since Tolia Solaita hit 49 for the Hi-Toms in 1968. Gac leads the Carolina League in home runs and is tied for second in all of minor league baseball in round-trippers. Gac has ten more home runs than any other player in the CL and his 96 RBI are eight more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (139, the only player in the league that has played every game), second in at bats (512), sixth in batting average (.281), second in hits (144), tied for fourth in doubles (31), first in slugging percentage (.539), second in extra-base hits (65), first in runs scored (91), first in total bases (276), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.52).

Son of a Blanke: Despite an 0 for 4 night on Sunday, Mike Blanke has been one of Winston's hottest hitters over the last few weeks. The Dash catcher has hit .304 (21 for 69) in his last 20 games with three doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI, and eight runs scored. He has posted an OPS of .894 during this stretch (.329 OBP with 24 for 73 reaching base and .565 SLG).

‘Maul Rat: Since giving up two runs in an outing on June 2 against Potomac, Kussmaul has been nothing short of spectacular. He pitched another scoreless inning last night to help the Dash hold a one-run lead. He has allowed four runs (two earned) on 11 hits in his last 22 appearances, sporting a 0.55 ERA (2 ER, 32.2 IP) with a .118 batting average against (13 for 110) and 56 strikeouts (eight walks) in the process. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 13.81 strikeouts per nine innings, nearly two more full K's than second-place Eliecer Cardenas (11.91). He is second among all full-season minor league pitchers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (88) despite only ranking eighth among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (57.1). He is also second among CL relievers with a .163 opponents' batting average and is second in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.63).

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP David Hale (3-6, 4.12) makes his 28th appearance and 13th start of the season for Lynchburg. In four games (two starts) against the Dash, Hale is 0-1 with a 6.35 ERA. He began the season in the bullpen for the Hillcats and registered a 1-2 record and 5.64 ERA in his 15 relief appearances. He moved into the rotation in early July and has posted a 3.64 ERA as a starter. A third round draft pick in 2009 out of Princeton, Hale is ranked by Baseball America as the 17th-best prospect in the Braves organization. He made his debut in 2009 in Rookie Danville and went 2-1 with a 1.13 ERA in seven appearances (one start). Last year he moved up to low-A Rome and struggled as a starter, registering an ERA of 7.99 in four starts (0-4). After he moved to the bullpen, Hale went 5-3 with a 2.16 ERA and five saves. The Marietta, GA native throws a 93-94 mph fastball that can top out at 96, a slider that can reach 84-86, and a changeup.

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