Early Deficit Dooms Dash in Series Opener
April 17, 2025 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
GREENVILLE, SC - Early struggles proved to be too much for Winston-Salem (3-7), who dropped game one of the second six-game series of the season to the Greenville Drive (4-5) in a 9-3 road loss. The Drive opened with five runs in their first two innings and never looked back.
Although the Dash opened the season as the "visitors" against Rome, those games were played at Truist Stadium due to a facilities issue at AdventHealth Stadium, the home of the Emperors. Tuesday marked their first true road trip, and the Drive didn't offer any houseguest hospitality to the Dash.
Greenville struck for six hits and five runs off starter Seth Keener in just 3.1 innings of work. The right-hander surrendered the early 1-0 lead on a single by Greenville's Miguel Bleis.
The Drive added four more in the second, three of them on a single swing courtesy of Yophery Rodriguez's first home run of the season, to stretch the lead to 5-0.
Although Keener took the loss, his successor Jared Kelley steadied the ship for Winston-Salem and threw 1.2 scoreless innings to get the Dash back on track. As a staff, the Dash struck out 15 Greenville hitters but were plagued by the nine walks they allowed.
The Dash tried to battle back and scored one run in each of the third, fifth, and sixth innings to pull within two runs and make it a 5-3 game. Offensively, Arxy Hernandez led the way for the Dash with a team-high three hits, and Ryan Galanie launched his second home run of the year.
Despite the midgame push from the Dash, Greenville capitalized on their early lead and added four more runs to secure the game-one victory.
Winston-Salem will look to bounce back on Wednesday, April 16, in game two of the series.
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