Morel's Walk-Off Home Run Ignites Dash Victory
Published on April 24, 2009 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release
Winston-Salem, NC - Brent Morel hit a walk-off solo home run to lead off the bottom of the tenth inning to give Winston-Salem (7-9) a 6-5 win over Wilmington (9-7) on Friday night at Wake Forest Baseball Park. The dramatic win kicked off a celebration at home plate and evened the four-game series at a game apiece.
Dash reliever Hector Santiago (1-0) entered the game with two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the tenth inning. He wiggled out of the jam and recorded the final out to garnered the win. Kelvin Villa (0-1) worked a solid 3.2 innings of relief for the Blue Rocks, but surrendered the game-winning home run to suffer the tough-luck loss.
The Dash offense came alive in the third inning against Blue Rocks starting pitcher Alex Caldera. Seth Loman led off with a double and scored on an Adam Ricks single. Later in the inning, Jimmy Gallagher beat out an infield single to score Ricks from third and give the Dash a 2-0 lead. The single by Gallagher extended his hitting streak to 15 games, which is the longest such streak in the Carolina League this season.
Wilmington jumped in front with three runs in the fourth inning keyed by a run-scoring single by Clint Robinson and a solo home run from Mike Moustakes.
In the bottom of the inning, Winston-Salem would retake the lead. Brent Morel and Christian Marrero began the rally with back-to-back singles. Seth Loman collected an infield single and an error on the throw to first allowed Morel to cross the plate to tie the game. Ricks contributed an RBI sacrifice fly and Jordan Danks lined an RBI double to give the Dash a 5-3 advantage.
Jamar Walton greeted Dash reliever Wander Perez with a solo home run in the seventh inning to trim the Blue Rocks deficit to one. Walton struck again with another solo shot in the ninth inning off Miguel Socolovich to knot the game at five and send the game to extra innings.
Lowe tossed six innings and limited the Blue Rocks to three runs on four hits with five strikeouts, but did not factor in the decision.
These two teams will meet up in game three of this four-game series on Saturday night at Wake Forest Baseball Park. The Dash will turn to RHP Matt Long (0-2, 6.75), while the Blue Rocks are expected to start RHP Jason Godin (0-0, 1.04). The first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Carolina League Stories from April 24, 2009
- Morel's walk-off homer beats Rocks in extras - Wilmington Blue Rocks
- Morel's Walk-Off Home Run Ignites Dash Victory - Winston-Salem Dash
- Lynchburg earns their eighth comeback win of the season - Lynchburg Hillcats
- Meyers Masterful on Mound, Shuts Out Keys - Potomac Nationals
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- Meyers shuts down Frederick offense - Frederick Keys
- Lynchburg Hillcats Game Notes - Lynchburg Hillcats
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