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CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

June 29, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (4-1, 36-39) @ POTOMAC NATIONALS (2-4, 31-44)

Wednesday, June 29, 2011, 7:05 p.m. | G. Richard Pfitzner Stadium | Woodbridge, VA

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

Game No. 77 | Road Game No. 36 | 2011 Home Record 20-20 | 2011 Road Record 16-19

RHP Justin Collop (2-3, 4.11) @ LHP Evan Bronson (1-3, 4.00)

Apocalypse Earlier: The end of the world appeared apparent simply by the appearance of the Winston-Salem sky last night, as dark clouds, violent lightning, booming thunder, and monsoon-like rain covered the Piedmont Triad. Despite the doom and gloom, only a baseball game was ended prematurely, as the series finale between the Dash and Hillcats was halted after half an inning of scoreless play. The suspended game will resume on Monday, August 15 at 6 p.m. in the bottom of the first inning with the score 0-0; a seven-inning game will follow upon completion of the first contest. Winston-Salem will have to wait until then to have a chance at collecting its second series sweep of the season and first at home.

Pesky little Nats: Tonight the Dash begin a brief three-game road trip with the first of three at Potomac, the squad that beat Winston-Salem in last year's Mills Cup Championship Series. The Dash have had no qualms with playing the Nationals this season, winning seven of the teams' ten first half matchups. The last time these teams met, tempers flared, benches cleared, and Potomac's manager (Matt LeCroy) and first baseman (Steven Souza) were ejected in an eventual 8-5 Nats win. In each of the first three series the teams have played this season, the Dash have lost only the series finales.

Collop I.D.: Justin Collop turned in another excellent performance last time out as he builds up arm strength to take on a regular role in the Dash rotation. The Wayne, Michigan native allowed just one hit and one walk over six scoreless innings to earn his second straight win last Friday at Frederick. Over his last five outings, including four starts, Collop has allowed just one earned run in 19 innings for a 0.47 ERA. He has allowed just ten hits over that span for a .154 opponents' batting average (10 for 65). Collop missed time in spring training with a shoulder injury and went on the D.L. in April when he aggravated the same malady.

Ty High: After missing the first month of the season with a broken hand, Tyler Saladino is starting take off offensively. His season-best seven game hitting streak ended with Monday night's 0 for 3 game at the plate, but that has been a blip on an otherwise red hot last few weeks. He has a base hit in 12 of his last 15 games and a multi-hit game in eight of the last 14 contests he has played in. Since June 5, Saladino is batting .333 (21 for 63) with seven doubles, three homers, nine RBI, and eight runs scored. He has raised his batting average 62 points to .247 during this period.

Recovery Summer: Jose Martinez' first full healthy season as a professional continues to proceed swimmingly. Martinez missed roughly two full seasons worth of baseball from 2008 - 2010 after a series of right knee injuries that required three separate surgeries. Café went 1 for 3 Monday night and is hitting .306, good for fourth in the Carolina League. After a six-game stretch when he went 1 for 23 that spanned the end of May and beginning of June, Martinez has hit in 17 of his last 19 games. He is batting .329 (26 for 79) during this period with 11 RBI. His 12 RBI in June are the most he has had in any month this season and he has hit in his last seven games.

Chicks Dig the Long Ball: Winston-Salem has done the bulk of its damage against opposing pitchers in the second half via the home run. Of the 16 runs scored by the Dash since the All-Star break, 11 have come off of eight homers. Winston leads the Carolina League in home runs this season with 68, 15 more than second-place Salem.

Another Gac-Breaker: All-Star designated hitter Ian Gac's eighth-inning two-run home run on Sunday proved to be the game-winner for Winston-Salem as the Dash reversed a pair of deficits to win the series opener. The dramatic home run was nothing new for the slugger; in fact, it has become habit for Gac to hit important home runs this season. Of his league-leading 19 homers, 11 have either tied the game or gave the Dash the lead. In addition to topping the Carolina League in home runs, Gac also leads the league in games played (75), extra-base hits (40), runs scored (51), total bases (150), and HR/AB ratio (1/14.84). He also ranks among the league leaders in at bats (3rd, 282), RBI (2nd, 52) doubles (4th, 21), and slugging percentage (5th, .539).

Strong Finish: Monday night, Andre Rienzo threw the second complete game of the season for the Dash and the first shutout. Rienzo threw seven scoreless innings, scattering six hits and two walks while striking out six. It was his third complete game shutout of his career; he had two such performances last year, also seven-inning complete games. Monday night's start was a nice turnaround for Rienzo, who had been shaky during the month of June. The Carolina League All-Star entered June 1-1 with a 2.68 ERA and a .203 opponent batting average. In four starts prior to last night, Rienzo was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA and a .395 opponent batting average. Rienzo picked up his only other win of the season against the Hillcats on May 6.

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Evan Bronson (1-3, 4.00) makes his sixth start (13th appearance) of the season and his first appearance against the Dash. He made four appearances against Winston in 2010, going 1-0 with an ERA of 4.02. In his last start of the season against the Dash on July 1, he picked up the win in seven innings and allowed two runs (earned) on seven hits and struck out five. Bronson has switched between a reliever and a starter this season, and has a 1-3 record and 4.38 ERA as a starting pitcher in 2011, as he did in the beginning of last year as well. In 2010 he shifted primarily to a starter's role on April 18 and 16 of his final 18 appearances were starts. Drafted in the 29th round in 2009, Bronson had a great professional debut with short-season Vermont. He went 3-0 with a 0.55 ERA and four saves in 20 bullpen appearances, holding NYPL hitters to a .161 batting average. He was a NYPL All-Star and was named the Vermont Player of the Month for August. Bronson, a native of Midlothian, Virginia (just south of Richmond) played collegiately at Trinity University in San Antonio. He was drafted by the Brewers in the 36th round in 2008, but elected to return to school. He throws his fastball in the 87-91 mph range, an upper 70s curveball and a changeup. He enjoys golfing and has a handicap of eight.

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