CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Dash Notes - Championship Series Game Four

Published on September 17, 2010 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (38-31, 81-58) vs. POTOMAC NATIONALS (39-30, 70-69)

Friday, September 17, 2010, 7:03 p.m. ⌂ G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium ⌂ Woodbridge, VA

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

Mills Cup Championship Series Game Four ⌂ 2010 Home Record 47-22 ⌂ 2010 Road Record 34-36

RHP Nate Jones (0-0, 2.45) vs. RHP Marcos Frias (1-0, 5.40)

NATIONALS LEAD SERIES 2-1

On the Brink: The Nationals moved one win away from the Mills Cup Championship by defeating Winston-Salem 10-2 on Thursday night in game three. Potomac jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a pair of home runs, only to see the Dash tie the game. After the P-Nats took a 3-2 lead, Winston had a chance to take the lead when the team loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. Jimmy Barthmaier was able to work out of the jam without allowing a run to score, and then the Nationals score three in the bottom of the inning to take a commanding lead. The Dash must win tonight to force a game five on Saturday in Woodbridge and keep its chances at a league title alive. The last time Winston won consecutive games against Potomac in a series was when the Dash won three in a row at Pfitzner Stadium from May 10-12.

Putting the "Win" in Winston: Winston-Salem is back in the Mills Cup Championship Series for the first time since 2003 as the Dash continues its series with the Potomac Nationals. This is the first time these two franchises have met in the postseason. Winston is in the playoffs for the 13th time since the league switched to its current divisional format in 1980 and will be looking to snap a six-season championship drought. Winston-Salem has won more Mills Cup Championships (11) than any other Carolina League team (Lynchburg is second with six), but hasn't been the league champion since 2003 when it beat the Hillcats in three games. The Dash reached this point by sweeping the Kinston Indians in the Southern Division Championship Series. Winston got tremendous pitching in the SDCS, posting a collective 2.10 ERA, the best of any pitching staff in the postseason. Winston-Salem's top offensive performer in the first round was number nine batter Greg Paiml, who hit .417 (5 for 12) with a double and four RBI. He scored the tying run in the ninth inning of Friday night's comeback win. The Dash won both the first and second halves in the Southern Division this season and has won at least a share of first place in four consecutive halves for the first time in team history. The last time a Carolina League team accomplished the feat was Wilmington from 2001-02.

The P-Nats: Potomac earned a trip to the Carolina League playoffs by winning the second half Northern Division title. The Nationals finished with the best second half record in the league at 39-30, one game better than Winston-Salem. They were 31-39 in the first half, finishing ten games behind first half division winner Frederick and overall were one game over .500. After blowing an 8-0 first inning lead and losing game one of the Northern Division Championship Series against the Keys, the P-Nats rallied for three straight wins to secure the series victory and advance to the Mills Cup Championship Series. Potomac hit a league-best .295 in the first round of the playoffs and scored 31 runs in four games, more than any other team. Although the Nats finished seventh in the league in batting average (.251), it was this team's offense that led to its success. The Nationals finished the regular season with 665 runs, good enough for third in the Carolina League. Potomac was second in home runs (109), first in doubles (283), second in triples (45), and first in walks (539). In the playoffs, the P-Nats have been powered by Bill Rhinehart, who hit .294 with two home runs and seven RBI in the NDCS. Chris Curran has the highest postseason batting average in the CL at .583 (7 for 12). During the regular season, Potomac's firepower was provided by league MVP Tyler Moore, who hit .269 and led the CL in home runs (31), RBI (111), doubles (43), extra-base hits (77), total bases (277), and slugging (.552).

The Dash: Over the course of the regular season, no Carolina League team was better than Winston-Salem. The Dash won both halves in the Southern Division and finished with an 81-58 overall record. That mark was not only the best in the CL, but it was the tenth best in all of minor league baseball. Winston-Salem used a prolific offense and solid pitching to achieve its impressive record. The Dash hit .288 as a team, the sixth best batting average in all of full-season minor league baseball. Winston was first in the CL in runs scored (738), first in hits (1384), second in doubles (282), third in triples (44), first in home runs (112), first in slugging percentage (.435), and first in on-base percentage (.350). The Dash was sixth in ERA (4.04), fourth in fewest runs allowed (640), and led the league in fewest home runs allowed (64). Winston-Salem also led the league in All-Stars. The Dash placed seven players on the mid-season All-Star Team (Eduardo Escobar, Jon Gilmore, Justin Greene, Nevin Griffith, Gregory Infante, Seth Loman, and Brandon Short) and four on the year-end All-Star Team (Escobar, Gilmore, Greene, and Short). The team was led by Joe McEwing, who was named the Carolina League "Manager of the Year" for the second straight season.

Season Series: Winston-Salem and Potomac played several high-scoring and entertaining games throughout the regular season. The Dash won the season series 12 games to 8, but the Nationals outscored Winston 123 to 122. The Dash went 6-4 both at BB&T Ballpark and Pfitzner Stadium, the home of the P-Nats. Potomac was the opponent for the first-ever game at BB&T Ballpark on April 13 and earned a 5-4 win in 12 innings when Jose Lozada scored from third base on a Charlis Burdie wild pitch. The teams played two other extra-inning games over the course of the season and Winston-Salem won both. In their most recent series, the Dash won two of three games in Woodbridge, Virginia. The Dash erased a late 6-0 deficit to win game one 9-8 and won the final game of that series by the same score after Potomac scored five runs in the last two innings and had the potential game-tying run thrown out at the plate. The two strongest offensive players for the Dash against the Nationals over the course of the regular season were Seth Loman (.308-4-15) and Brandon Short (.341-1-13). Carolina League MVP Tyler Moore (.316-7-25) did the bulk of Potomac's damage against Winston-Salem.

Home Field Advantage: Winston-Salem will have to win two of three games on the road in order to win the championship. The Dash was 3-1 in home playoff games this postseason, with Tuesday's loss ending the team's ten-game home winning streak. Winston won its only first round road playoff game, a 10-5 win in 12 innings at Kinston. The Dash was 34-36 on the road in the regular season but was far more dominant at home. The team finished the regular season with a 47-22 record at BB&T Ballpark, the second best home record in all of minor league baseball. Only the AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (48-21) finished with a better home mark. Big crowds have been part of the reason for the Dash's success at home. The Dash led the Carolina League in both total and average attendance this season. This year, 312,313 fans entered the turnstiles at BB&T Ballpark, an average of 4,593 fans per game. Winston-Salem led all Advanced Class-A teams in attendance and ranked in the top third in the minors.

Bitter Taste: This postseason is one of redemption for many Dash players. Of the players on the current roster, nine were on the Winston-Salem team that was swept from the playoffs in three games last year by the Salem Red Sox. Eleven Dash players were on last year's Kannapolis Intimidators team that won the second half title and finished with the best overall record in the South Atlantic League. The Intimidators were also swept out of the playoffs in the first round, losing two games to the Lakewood BlueClaws.

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Marcos Frias (1-0, 5.40) starts game four for Potomac as the Nationals try to clinch the league championship. Frias started game four of the NDCS on Saturday and got the win against Frederick, allowing three runs on six hits in five innings. During the regular season he made two starts and one relief appearance against Winston-Salem. He was 2-1 against the Dash with a 9.90 ERA, surrendering 11 runs on 16 hits in ten innings. Frias made two very strong starts to finish the regular season, allowing a combined nine hits and no earned runs in 12.2 innings against Salem and Kinston. At 21, the Dominican right hander is one of the youngest players on the P-Nats. This is his fourth year of professional ball. He spent his first year with a full-season team in 2009 with Hagerstown, where he pitched in 25 games (23 starts) and went 9-5 with a 2.91 ERA. He struck out 112 batters in 126.2 innings. Frias throws a hard sinker and a fastball that reaches the low-90s.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

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Carolina League Stories from September 17, 2010


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