CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

Published on May 25, 2011 under Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (19-26) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (17-26)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 6:05 p.m. | Lynchburg City Stadium | Lynchburg, VA

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

Game No. 46 | Road Game No. 21 | 2011 Home Record 11-14 | 2011 Road Record 8-12

RHP Cameron Bayne (3-3, 3.49) @ RHP Willie Kempf (2-2, 6.59)

Nine Lives: The Hillcats proved their tenacity once again last night, walking off with a win for the second consecutive game. The Dash took a 3-1 lead into the ninth inning, but Lynchburg loaded the bases against Ryan Kussmaul before Keenan Wiley lined a bases-clearing triple off Jared Mitchell's glove to win the ballgame. After going without a walk-off win for the first 41 contests of the season, the Hillcats now done it in back-to-back games thanks to Wiley's hit and Joe Leonard's 11th-inning, game-winning sacrifice fly on Monday. Lynchburg has won the series, sending Winston-Salem to its third straight series defeat and its seventh loss in nine games.

Oh, the humanity!: Last night marked the first time in 249 games that the Dash lost a game when taking a lead into the ninth inning. Winston was 68-0 when leading after eight innings last year and 16-0 this year before last night. The last time the Dash could not hold a lead when entering the ninth inning was July 11, 2009, which was, coincidentally, also against the Hillcats. Winston led 6-5 entering the ninth before Alex Presley hit a game-tying solo homer in the ninth off Santo Luis before Levi Maxwell surrendered the game-winning home run to Jared Keel in the tenth inning before 1,502 at Gene Hooks Field at Wake Forest Baseball Park.

Espresso Shot: Jose Martinez shouldered the load offensively for Winston-Salem last night, going 3 for 4 with two singles, a double, a run scored, and his first stolen base of the season. Café's first inning single ended up bringing home the first run of the night, as Tyler Saladino scored when Todd Cunningham mishandled the ball after Martinez hit it to center field. It was the fourth game of three or more hits for Martinez this season and his first since April 21 against Wilmington. Café leads the league in batting at .327, eight points higher than Rey Navarro. He is tied for second in games (44), third in at bats (168), first in hits (55), and fifth in runs scored (29).

Slow Train: Andy Wilkins' sixth inning single produced the Dash's first RBI since the fifth inning of Sunday's series finale with the Salem Red Sox. Winston went 19 straight offensive innings without driving in a run before producing two RBI in the sixth last night. The Dash offense is still looking to get back in a groove. Since Nick Ciolli's RBI double in the fifth inning on Sunday, the Dash are hitting .152 (12 for 79) and have scored four runs in 24 innings.

Buch Nasty: Last night's loss spoiled a fine Carolina League debut for RHP Ryan Buch. The former Monmouth star scattered seven hits and two walks over six innings of one-run ball. During one sequence between the third and fifth innings, Buch struck out five consecutive Lynchburg batters. Unofficially, Buch threw 106 pitches (65 strikes), the most for a Dash starter or opponent in any game this season.

Quality's In: The Dash have had a terrific stretch of starting pitching as of late. The regular starters have combined to produce a quality start in ten consecutive games (discounting Santos Rodriguez' two spot starts). The Dash have quality starts from their starters in 12 of the last 15 games and the rotation has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 21 of the last 25 contests, posting a 3.04 ERA (48 ER, 142 IP) in that stretch.

Keeping ‚¬Ëœem Close: The Dash have played mostly close games this season. Thirty-seven of the team's 45 games have been decided by three runs or fewer and the team has had a lead in 34 games this season. Winston has played 18 one-run games and 13 two-run games. The Dash are 8-10 in one-run games and 6-7 in two run contests. At this rate, the Dash would play 96 one - or two-run games this season.

Filling up at the Gac Station: Ian Gac's two home run game Wednesday was the first multi-homer game for any Dash player this season and the 11th of his career. His second home run gave him 140 career dingers in nine professional seasons. Gac leads the Carolina League in homers and is on pace to hit 40 this season. He appears well on his way to surpassing his previous career-high of 22, a number he reached while playing for Bakersfield in 2009. Gac is second in the CL in RBI (31), first in games (45), fourth in at bats (167), tied for first in slugging percentage (.569), tied for first in extra-base hits (24), first in runs scored (34), first in total bases (95), and first in best HR/AB ratio (1/12.85).

Today's Opposing Starter: RHP Willie Kempf (2-2, 6.59) makes his fourth start and tenth appearance of the season against the Dash. He faced Winston-Salem once this season out of the bullpen, allowing three runs on six hits with five strikeouts in three innings on May 8. Over the course of the season, Kempf has not pitched nearly as poorly as his ERA would indicate, as he allowed more than half of the earned runs he's given up this year in one outing. He allowed 12 runs (11 earned) in 3.1 innings against Salem on April 18. Aside from that outing, his ERA would be a respectable 3.55. Kempf is in his first full season as a professional after spending his rookie season with three different teams in 2010. Overall with the GCL Braves, Danville, and Rome, Kempf pitched in 15 games (nine starts) and went 8-2 with a 1.70 ERA, striking out 71 batters with 11 walks in 74.1 innings. The Braves took Kempf with their 27th round pick (824th overall) in last year's draft out of Baylor University. In 2010, he was the Bears' captain for the second straight season and was named an Honorable Mention All-Big 12 player. The Castroville, Texas (about a half-hour's drive west of San Antonio) native went 9-2 with a 3.02 ERA for Baylor, starting 12 of 22 games that he pitched in. In his four-year career at Waco, tied for six in career wins at the school and was eighth in career strikeouts. One of his highlights was winning an elimination game in the NCAA Tournament over Arizona at the Fort Worth Regional. He worked into the ninth inning for the first time and struck out eight on a career-high 121 pitches. Baylor was eliminated by TCU from the tournament later that night. Kempf's late grandfather, Gerald, also played professional ball, appearing in 49 games for Batavia in the Cleveland organization in 1958. Kempf's post-playing days plans include opening a baseball instructional facility with former college teammate and current Marlins farmhand Gregg Glime.

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