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CarL1 Winston-Salem Dash

Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes

September 4, 2011 - Carolina League (CarL1)
Winston-Salem Dash News Release


WINSTON-SALEM DASH (36-32, 68-70) @ LYNCHBURG HILLCATS (29-37, 59-77)

Sunday, September 4, 2011, 6:05 p.m. | Lynchburg City Stadium | Lynchburg, VA

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

Game No. 139 | Road Game No. 68 | 2011 Home Record 39-32 | 2011 Road Record 29-38

LHP Matt Wickswat (5-6, 4.25) @ LHP Matt Talley ( -, - )

Running on Empty: Friday's marathon doubleheader finally caught up with the Dash last night as Winston-Salem dropped a 7-2 decision at Lynchburg. Both teams scored in the first and the game was tied at two heading into the bottom of the fifth. In that frame, the Hillcats scored a pair against Cameron Bayne to take a 4-2 lead and added three more runs in the sixth to go ahead by five. The Dash, who finished their series with Salem at 1:14 a.m. that morning, looked sleepy offensively, going 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position and leaving 12 men on base to tie a season-high. The loss pushed Winston-Salem to the brink of elimination for postseason contention (see note below).

In need of an Indian gift: Last night's loss, in combination with Kinston's 9-8 win at Potomac, put the Dash into serious jeopardy of missing the postseason. The Indians lead the Dash by one game in the division with two games to play and have a magic number of two to clinch a playoff spot, meaning any combination of two K-Tribe wins or Dash losses will deny Winston-Salem a fourth straight trip to the postseason. The Dash will play 70 games in the second half and the K-Tribe will play 69 because of a cancellation. For the Winston-Salem to make the playoffs, the Dash's losses cannot exceed Kinston's. Because the Indians currently have two fewer loss than the Dash, Winston needs to win its last two games and have the K-Tribe to lose at least two of their remaining three games at Potomac this weekend.

Sometimes you save the best for last: Friday night's crowd of 7,207 was the biggest of the season, topping the 7,143 that saw the Dash and Red Sox on July 3. It was also the second-biggest in the two-year history at BB&T Ballpark, falling just short of the record 7,268 on July 2, 2010. Friday night's game helped the Dash set a new attendance record for the second straight season. The final regular season home attendance was 312,416, eclipsing last year's total of 312,313. The average game attendance was 4,663, also higher than last year's mark of 4,593. Both this year's average and total attendance lead all 30 Advanced-A organizations.

Most Likely to Succeed: On Thursday, Ian Gac was named the Most Valuable Player in the Carolina League, the first time a Winston player has captured the league's highest honor since Leo Daigle won it in 2005. He became the ninth Winston-Salem player to be awarded the MVP/Player of the Year Award in the Carolina League, blowing away opposing hurlers with a monstrous offensive season (see note below). He was also named to the postseason All-Star team as the DH while teammate Andy Wilkins earned the utility infield spot on the team. Both players have been highly valuable to the Dash this season, especially when they go deep. Winston-Salem is 21-9 (.700) when Gac homers and just 47-61 (.435) when he does not. Sixteen of Gac's 33 homers this season have either tied the game or given the Dash the lead. The Dash are 13-6 (.684) when Andy Wilkins hits a home run and have won 13 of the last 15 games during which the Oklahoman has homered.

Matching the Jersey Number: Ian Gac smoked his 33rd home run of the season to cap a six-run second inning on Wednesday night for Winston-Salem. The blast, the 160th of his pro career, set a new single-season career-high for the slugger, surpassing the 32 home runs he hit in 2008 with the Rangers organization. Gac has now hit more home runs in a Carolina League season than any player since 1997 when Kinston's Daniel Peoples hit 34. If he hits two more home runs in the remaining two games, he will tie the Winston-Salem record (Joe Olivares hit 35 in 1960) and have hit the most homers in any Carolina League season since Tolia Solaita hit 49 for the Hi-Toms in 1968. Gac leads the Carolina League in home runs and is tied for second in all of minor league baseball in round-trippers. Gac has 11 more home runs than any other player in the CL and his 95 RBI are eight more than second place. Gac is also first in the CL in games played (138, the only player in the league that has played every game), second in at bats (508), fifth in batting average (.281), second in hits (143), tied for fourth in doubles (31), first in slugging percentage (.541), second in extra-base hits (65), first in runs scored (91), first in total bases (275), and first in HR/AB ratio (1/15.39).

Son of a Blanke: Despite an 0 for 4 night on Saturday, Mike Blanke has been one of Winston's hottest hitters over the last few weeks. The Dash catcher has hit .323 (21 for 65) in his last 19 games with three doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI, and eight runs scored. He has posted an OPS of .948 during this stretch (.348 OBP with 24 for 69 reaching base and .600 SLG).

The Hit Doctor is on-Coll once again: Kyle Colligan has recently shown signs of life lately after a mostly difficult 2011 season. Over his last 11 games, Colligan is batting .294 (10 for 34) with three doubles, two homers, seven RBI, and 11 runs scored. He has 16 walks in his last 17 games and has posted an on-base percentage of .439 (29 times reached base in 66 plate appearances).

‚¬ËœMaul Rat: Since giving up two runs in an outing on June 2 against Potomac, Kussmaul has been nothing short of spectacular. He pitched another scoreless inning on Sunday night to finish off the Pelicans. He has allowed four runs (two earned) on ten hits in his last 22 appearances, sporting a 0.57 ERA (2 ER, 31.2 IP) with a .113 batting average against (12 for 106) and 56 strikeouts (seven walks) in the process. Kussmaul leads all Carolina League relievers with 14.06 strikeouts per nine innings, more than two full K's than second-place Eliecer Cardenas (11.91). He is second among all full-season minor league pitchers in the category. Kussmaul is second on the Dash in strikeouts (88) despite only ranking eighth among all 2011 Winston players in innings pitched (56.1). He is also second among CL relievers with a .162 opponents' batting average and is second in fewest baserunners/9 IP (8.47).

Today's Opposing Starter: LHP Matt Talley ( -, - ) makes his Carolina League debut tonight for the Hillcats. He was selected in the 28th round of this June's draft and has pitched at two lower levels before his start today. Talley pitched in 12 games (six starts) for the GCL Braves, going 1-3 with a 2.95 ERA and 31K/10 BB in 42.2 innings. He made a one-inning relief appearance one week ago for Danville of the Appalachian League (two runs on two hits) before receiving a late promotion to Lynchburg yesterday. Talley graduated from The Citadel this past spring with a degree in civil engineering before the Braves drafted him. He passed up a chance at going pro in favor of completing his degree the summer before when Arizona drafted him in the 25th round. The pre-season Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year for 2011, Talley finished fifth in career innings (300) and starts (48) for the Bulldogs. He helped The Citadel to a SoCon title in 2010 and earned a win over 16th-ranked Virginia Tech in the NCAA Regional in Columbia, South Carolina. That season he was 8-3 with a 3.71 ERA and in 2011 went 3-7 with an ERA of 3.95. A native of Sumter, South Carolina, Talley played for a Legion team in high school that won back-to-back state championships.

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