Dash Drop Season Opener on the Road
Published on April 4, 2026 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
BOWLING GREEN, KY - The Winston-Salem Dash (0-1) fell in the 2026 season opener on the road to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (1-0) by a 4-2 final. Despite a back-and-forth affair early, Bowling Green found an advantage in the fifth and never looked back.
The Dash wasted no time getting 2026 started. In fact, Winston-Salem scored the first chance they had. With two outs in the first, Anthony DePino notched his first High A RBI with a single to right. The knock drove in Kyle Lodise and gave the Dash the early 1-0 lead.
However, the lead didn't last. Bowling Green answered with a run in each of the 1st and second. In the first, Theo Gillen doubled and later scored on an Émilien Pitre groundout to even the contest at 1-1.
Then, in the second, Angel Mateo reached on an error by Dash third basemen Colby Shelton. The Hot Rods took advantage of the error, as J.D. Gonzalez singled to drive home Mateo and took a 2-1 advantage with the base hit.
The Dash found an answer in the third. Depino got the rally started and reached on a hit by pitch, and George Wolkow followed with a single that put runners at the corners. Alec Makarewicz notched his first RBI of the season with a sacrifice fly.
With the game tied at 2-2, the teams traded zeros until the Hot Rods found a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth.
After Morris Austin entered in relief for Grant Umberger, the Hot Rods capitalized late in the frame. Gonzalez delivered an RBI single to give Bowling Green the lead, and Adrian Santana followed with a run-scoring hit to extend the advantage to 4-2.
Umberger closed his night after 4.2 innings of work and was tagged for four runs, but only two earned. Luke Bell entered after Austin's clean 1.1 innings and tossed 2.0 scoreless innings of his own.
On the other side, Bowling Green starter Gary Gill Hill went 5.0 innings of three-hit baseball and allowed a pair of earned runs. To close, Andres Galan, Garrett Gainey, and Jacob Kmatz took the mound after Hill and shut the door on the Dash.
Winston-Salem will look to rebound Saturday, April 4th, in game two of the three-game set.
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