Sports stats



CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

July 6, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (6-6, 38-44) vs. MYRTLE BEACH PELICANS (6-7, 37-45)

Wednesday, July 6, 2011, 7:00 p.m. | BB&T Ballpark | Winston-Salem, NC

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

Game No. 84 | Home Game No. 46 | 2011 Home Record 21-23 | 2011 Road Record 17-21

LHP Joe Serafin (1-6, 5.50) vs. LHP Robbie Ross (8-2, 2.49)

Lights Out: Last night the lights went out for the Dash - figuratively and literally - as Winston-Salem lost 3-2 to the Salem Red Sox in the four-game series finale. Salem scored a pair of unearned runs in the first inning and never trailed, keeping the Dash at bay. As Taylor Thompson was finishing up his warm-up pitches just before the start of the ninth inning, the stadium lights suddenly went out, causing a 20-minute delay until the lights could be turned back on. The delay did not seem to bother the Red Sox, as Salem's Jeremiah Bayer threw a perfect bottom of the ninth for his third save. The Red Sox captured the series by winning the last three games, sending the Dash to .500 in the second half and two games behind first-place Kinston in the playoff chase.

Little Nicky, Big Catch: Dash right fielder Nick Ciolli made the defensive highlight of the season last night, earning himself a spot on ESPN SportsCenter's "Top Plays." Ciolli robbed David Mailman of a home run and went tumbling headfirst over the short fence near the foul pole, holding onto the ball in the process. After coming to his feet, grimacing from the hard fall to the concrete floor on the other side of the wall, Ciolli threw the ball back toward the infield and remained in the game. Later in the contest, he stroked a base hit, stole a base, and scored. Ciolli's catch ranked second on the SportsCenter's top ten plays from last night, just behind Darnell McDonald's game-ending outfield assist in the Boston Red Sox-Toronto Blue Jays game. The catch can be seen on the Dash's YouTube channel at youtube.com/wsdashbaseball.

Short Staffed: Last night starter Jake Petricka lasted just four innings as he builds up arm strength following a month on the shelf with an intercostal muscle injury. His outing was the third straight by a starter of less than five innings, joining Monday's starter Brad Furnish (2 IP), and Sunday's starter Matt Wickswat (4.1 IP). Over the Salem series, the Winston-Salem bullpen was taxed for 21 innings over four games. Tonight the Dash hope to get a long outing from Joe Serafin, who pitched into the eighth inning his last start, and spell the bullpen a bit.

MitchBlade: Before going hitless in his final three at bats last night, Jared Mitchell put together an impressive on-base streak over the last two games. After going 3 for 3 with two walks on Monday, he reached base with a triple and a walk his first two times up last night, reaching base in seven consecutive plate appearances. After passing through a recent 1 for 21 stretch offensively, the former first rounder is 7 for 16 in the last four games with three doubles, a triple, a homer, three RBI, seven runs scored, three walks, and he was hit by a pitch (a .550 on-base percentage).

Stuff your sorries in a Gac, mister: Prior to going 0 for 3 last night, Ian Gac had been 9 for 18 in his last four games with a home run, three doubles, four RBI, and six runs. Gac leads the Carolina League in homers by six over teammate Andy Wilkins and is also tied for first in RBI with 56. He is first in games played (82), third in at bats (310), tied for second in doubles (24), fourth in slugging (.539), first in extra-base hits (44), first in runs scored (57), first in total bases (167), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.50). The Dash lead the Carolina League in home runs with 78, 21 more than second place Salem and Frederick.

SaladinO-fer: Tyler Saladino had a rare 0 for 5 game last night, cooling what has been a hot stretch for the Dash shortstop. After missing the first month of the season with a broken hand, the former Oral Roberts standout has taken off offensively. He has a base hit in 18 of his last 23 games. Since June 5, Saladino is batting .318 (28 for 88) with nine doubles, a triple, six homers, 13 RBI, and 15 runs scored. He has raised his batting average 67 points to .249 during this period.

Good to the Last Drop: Jose Martinez went 2 for 5 with a run scored on Monday night in what proved to be the right fielder's swan song in a Winston-Salem uniform, as he was promoted to AA Birmingham yesterday. In his first game with the Barons, he picked up where he left off, going 3 for 5 with a run scored in the Barons' 10-2 loss to Mobile. Nicknamed Café, Martinez joined the Dash just more than one year ago after missing nearly two full seasons with a knee injury. In 140 games with Winston-Salem, he hit .283 (156 for 551) with ten home runs, 21 doubles, four triples, and 73 runs. Prior to his promotion this season, Café hit .314 to lead all active Carolina Leagues, led the circuit with 99 hits and 315 at bats. He was third in games (79) and fourth in runs scored (45). Martinez was hitting the ball very well in the month leading to his deserved promotion. After a six-game stretch when he went 1 for 23 that spanned the end of May and beginning of June, Martinez hit in 22 of his last 25 games. He hit .349 (37 for 106) during this period with 12 RBI.

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Robbie Ross (8-2, 2.49) makes his 17th appearance and 16th start of the season tonight, and will pitch for the first time against Winston-Salem. The Carolina League All-Star hasn't allowed a run in 12 consecutive innings, spanning two starts (1-0, 6 H, 11 K). It's the second longest scoreless streak for Ross this season, as he went his first 17.2 innings of the season without allowing a run. The Kentucky native is fifth in the Carolina League in ERA this season and third in the league with 90.1 innings pitched. Ross was drafted in the second round of the 2008 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of high school at Lexington Christian Academy. He had signed a letter of intent with the University of Kentucky. Coming into the season, Ross was ranked by Baseball America as the 19th-best prospect in the Rangers organization. He split last year between low-A Hickory and Advanced-A Bakersfield, going a combined 12-11 with a 3.58 ERA. With Hickory he was 8-7 with a 2.59 ERA and was named a South Atlantic League All-Star. His father was also drafted out of high school in the second round by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1975 MLB Draft. Ross throws an upper 80s/low 90s fastball with good movement, a slider, and a changeup.

Check out the Winston-Salem Dash Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...

Carolina League Stories from July 6, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Winston-Salem Dash Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central