Sanchez Saves the Day in the 10th
SAL Winston-Salem Dash

Sanchez Saves the Day in the 10th

July 28, 2025 - South Atlantic League (SAL)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


Aberdeen, MD - Winston-Salem (36-57) took an extra-innings affair over the Aberdeen IronBirds (36-57) on Saturday at Ripken Stadium in 5-4 fashion. Wilber Sanchez came through with the biggest swing of the night in extra innings, and launched a two-run homer in the 10th to lift the Dash to victory.

Headed to extras, the Dash needed momentum. Aberdeen had scored three unanswered runs since the third, and the Dash had been hitless since the fifth inning.

However, Winston-Salem wasted no time when the extra frames started on Saturday.

Just four pitches into the top of the tenth, Sanchez uncorked a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall for his second home run of the year and gave Winston-Salem a 5-3 advantage.

With the two-run advantage, Phil Fox entered to try and pick up the save.

After a pair of groundouts scored Thomas Sosa, who started the extra frame on second base, Fox got Maikol Hernández to strike out swinging and shut the door on Aberdeen.

Fox was the hero on the hill while Sanchez was brilliant in the batter's box. The third baseman led the offensive charge with a pair of runs, hits, and runs batted in, all of which led the lineup. As for Fox, he picked up his fourth save of the season.

Winston-Salem showed promise early with a three-run third, sparked by back-to-back RBI hits from Braden Montgomery and Jeral Perez. Montgomery tripled and brought home a pair of runners, Ryan Burrows and Sanchez. Perez notched a single two pitches later to score Montgomery and extend the lead to 3-0.

The IronBirds chipped away with two runs in the third and tied the game in the seventh, taking advantage of Dash miscues. A fielding error by Burrowes, one of three Dash errors on the night, allowed the tying run to score unearned.

Connor McCullough started and tossed three frames of two-hit baseball before giving way to a bullpen that combined for eight gritty innings of work.

Nick Alteramatt was the first man out of the bullpen. The righty went two scoreless frames and allowed just three hits in his performance. Jonathan Clark, Carson Jacobs, and Morris Austin followed, and each navigated traffic without allowing the go-ahead run before Sanchez's heroics.

In the end, Austin got the win for his two innings in the eighth and the ninth, striking out two.

With the stoppage of play on Sunday, the Dash will head home to Truist Stadium for a pair of games against the Greenville Drive on Tuesday. Game one will be a continuation of a suspended game from July 13, with Greenville as the home team, and game two will start the regularly scheduled six-game set between the Dash and the Drive. Game one is set for five p.m. Tuesday, July 29.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics



South Atlantic League Stories from July 28, 2025


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