A Pre-Firework Show Falls Just Short for Winston-Salem
July 3, 2025 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
WINSTON-SALEM, NC - With the 8,213 on hand inside Truist Stadium, the largest crowd of the season for Winston-Salem, the Dash (29-48) dropped an Independence Day eve celebration against the Hub City Spartanburgers (37-40), 9-6, in ten innings.
When the bottom of the ninth inning rolled in on Thursday, so did the flame-throwing righty, Adonis Villavicencio, who came in to try and shut the door on the Dash.
Hub City led Winston-Salem 5-3, a score that had stood since the fourth.
But in front of the biggest crowd at Truist Stadium all season, the Dash started to piece together a comeback.
Jackson Appel got the inning started for the Dash and reached on a hit by pitch to bring the tying run to the plate.
The very next pitch, Alec Makarewicz laced a single into right-center field to put runners at first and second.
Wilber Sanchez stood in the righty batter's box, representing the winning run. The first pitch to the Dash shortstop ran high and inside and caught Sanchez on the hand to load the bases.
The 8,000 faithful roared on their team as the pressure built for Villavicencio
Before the next pitch came across, the righty balked, Appel scored, and the deficit was cut to 5-4.
Matt Hogan stood in with the tying and winning run aboard and in scoring position.
CRACK
The lefty tied the game on a rocket-shot single into right field that scored Makarewicz to knot the game at 5-5.
After an intentional walk to Sam Antonacci, the bases were loaded once more, this time for Jeral Perez.
The powerful righty stepped in.
The winning run was just 90 feet away.
SMACK
The Dash second baseman stung a line drive right into the glove of the Spartanburgers' third baseman, Rafe Perich, who caught the liner and stepped on the third base bag to double off the game-winning run at third in Sanchez.
The very next batter, Braden Montgomery, struck out swinging, and the Dash headed to extra innings.
In the tenth, Hub City tacked on the go-ahead run on a bloop single off the bat of Casey Cook to take the 6-5 lead
But they weren't done.
Four hits and four runs later, Hub City took the four-run lead into the bottom of the tenth, a lead they did not surrender.
The Dash scratched a pair of runs across in the bottom of the tenth and even loaded the bases, but ultimately fell 9-7.
Villavicencio (3-0) ultimately got the win for the Spartanburgers after blowing the save in the bottom of the ninth. Mailon Felix shut the door, getting Antonacci to ground out, sealing the 9-7 win for Hub City and recording his first save. On the other side, Jack Young got the loss for Winston-Salem after his one inning in the tenth.
The large crowd was on hand large and in part due to the fireworks after the action in game three of the six-game set, the Dash wasted no time lighting up the sky.
In the bottom of the first, Samuel Zavala uncorked a 393-foot homerun to ignite the packed Truist Stadium and gave Winston-Salem an early 2-0 lead
Hub City started to claw its way back in the third. After a pair of soft singles and a low line drive that was out of the reach of Sanchez at shortstop, Frankeli Arias, the Dash starter, found himself in a bases-loaded jam.
To start, Arias got Dylan Dreiling to pop out at second and keep runners where they were.
The very next batter, Malcolm Moore, launched a fly ball into left field. Zavala gloved and fired home towards catcher Appel, who made the split-second decision to throw back to third, where the Dash caught Luis Marquez trying to advance.
The double play got the Dash out of trouble, only surrendering the one run and preserving the 2-1 lead.
The Spartanburgers did not let up, however, and continued to pile pressure. After a past ball put a runner in scoring position, followed by an error by Makarewicz at first base, Hub City threatened again.
On a ground ball that looked like it would be an inning-ending double play to get the Dash out of the inning, Quincy Scott hustled up the first base line to beat an errant throw from Sanchez and allowed the tying run to score.
With the game tied at 2-2, John Taylor roped a double into the right centerfield gap that allowed Scott to score all the way from first and gave the Spartanburgers the 3-2 lead.
Dylan McLean kept the momentum for Hub City after a five-pitch one, two, three, bottom of the fourth. The Hub City lefty had a good bounce back following the home run allowed in the bottom of the first, and allowed only one run after the long ball. McLean got the curtain call after 4.2 innings, allowing three hits and three runs.
The Spartanburgers' offense also stayed in its groove. Stolen bases 22 and 23 from Anthony Gutierrez put the speedy designated hitter at third base for Arturo Disla. On a 2-2 pitch, Disla snuck a base hit through the left side to extend the Hub City lead to 4-2.
The single by Disla was the end of the line for Arias. Despite allowing weak contact all evening, Arias exited after 4.2 innings, allowing five earned runs and seven hits to the Spartanburger bats.
With Carson Jacobs on the hill, Disla wasted no time and swiped second to put himself in scoring position.
Promptly after the stolen base, Casey Cook singled into center field and allowed Disla to score and extended the lead to 5-2 for the visitors.
Chasing three, the Dash offense got to work.
Makarewicz led off the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff walk, followed by a stolen base. A few batters later, Matt Hogan ripped a double down the first base line that allowed Makarewicz to score. As the lead shrank to 5-3, Hub City made the move to the bullpen, and Wilian Bormie with two outs in the fifth.
With the tying run at the plate, the Dash could not stretch another run across, and the deficit stayed at two, but the momentum continued to tip toward the Dash.
In the top of the sixth, Jacobs struck out a pair of Spartanburgers, and Dash catcher Appel threw out a runner at the second base bag to cap the quick inning.
After the two teams traded zeros, the Dash found themselves threatening again in the eighth.
Arxy Hernandez came to bat with a pair of runners aboard and two outs, the crowd at Truist Stadium with a newfound energy.
A soft ground ball to the right side of the infield ended the threat and stranded the pair on the base paths. The Dash still trailed 5-3 as the game headed to the ninth.
After Hub City stranded a pair of runners on base in the top of the frame, the Dash offense chased two in the bottom of the final inning.
Despite their efforts in the ninth and forcing a tenth inning of action, the Dash could not claw back in game three.
The two teams will head to Spartanburg to round out the six-game set. First pitch for game four is set for Friday, July 4, first pitch slated for 4:35 p.m.
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