Carolina 6, Winston-Salem 5 (F/11)
W: Nattino Diplan (5-1)
L: Danny Dopico (0-4)
S: None
ZEBULON, N.C. (July 19, 2018) – The Dash outhit Carolina on Thursday night at Five County Stadium, but Winston-Salem lost 6-5 due to a bases-loaded, walk-off walk in the 11th inning.
Trailing 4-3 in the top of the ninth inning and down to their final out, Zach Remillard drew a free pass with two outs from Carolina League saves leader Luke Barker. After Remillard moved to second on a wild pitch, Luis Gonzalez lofted an RBI single into right-center to tie the game.
Tyler Johnson, who had fired a perfect bottom of the eighth inning, sent the game to extra innings by stranding the potential winning runs on base in the bottom of the ninth. After Dustin Houle led off the inning with a single, he moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Joantgel Segovia. On the play, Johnson had trouble fielding the bunt, allowing Segovia to reach at first. But, the right-hander retired the next three batters he faced to end the Mudcats (15-11, 49-47) threat.
Winston-Salem (17-10, 58-39) took the lead in the top of the 10th against Nattino Diplan (5-1). Laz Rivera, who started the inning at second base per Minor League Baseball’s pace of play initiatives, moved to third on a flyout from Blake Rutherford and later scored on JJ Muno’s sacrifice fly to centerfield.
But, Carolina promptly tied the game at five in the bottom of the 10th against Danny Dopico (0-4), when Weston Wilson singled up the middle to plate the placed runner Demi Orimoloye.
Then, in the bottom of the 11th, the Mudcats loaded the bases with nobody out. After intentionally walking Nick Roscetti, Segovia bunted back toward the mound. Remillard charged in from first base and tried to force out the lead runner at third base, but Ti’Quan Forbes could not catch the throw cleanly. Dopico walked the next batter, Pat McInerney, on six pitches to force in Ryan Aguilar from third to end the game.
With the loss, the Dash drop the series against the Mudcats, marking their first series loss since June 5-7, when Winston-Salem lost two out of three games against the Salem Red Sox.
Trying to even the series, the Dash started the scoring in the top of the first inning. With one out, Rivera singled and stole second base, and then moved to third on a single from Rutherford. Next, Mitch Roman sliced a single into right-center field to plate Rivera, and an error by the right fielder Cooper Hummel allowed Rutherford to score from first to give the Dash a 2-0 lead.
From there, Luis Martinez went to work, retiring the side in order in the bottom of the first. But, Carolina drew even in the bottom of the second inning, loading the bases with a single and two walks to start the inning. Then, a wild pitch brought the first Mudcats run of the frame. After Martinez’s third walk of the inning re-loaded the bases, his second wild pitch of the inning allowed Carolina to tie the game.
The Dash retook the lead in the top of the fourth inning against Conor Harber. After Gavin Sheets and Yermin Mercedes led off the inning with back-to-back singles, Ti’Quan Forbes drove in Sheets with a double to left-center. But, Harber recovered to retire the next three batters to strand runners on second and third.
The seesaw battle continued in the fifth, when the Mudcats jumped in front. Following a one-out walk, Martinez allowed back-to-back doubles to Dallas Carroll and Demi Orimoloye to put Carolina ahead 4-3. Later in the inning, after a pitching change with two outs, Devan Watts made his White Sox organizational debut, retiring Cooper Hummel on one pitch to strand runners on the corners and end the Mudcats threat.
Martinez struck out a season-high eight batters in his 4.2 innings, but he tied a career-high with six walks. Meanwhile, Harber held the Dash scoreless after allowing a run in the fourth, retiring 14 consecutive batters between the fourth and eighth innings.
The Dash finish their series against the Mudcats on Friday. Pregame coverage begins at 6:45 p.m. and fans can catch all the action on wsdash.com/broadcast, MiLB.tv and the TuneIn radio app. Left-hander Kyle Kubat will get the start for Winston-Salem in the series finale against Mudcats right-hander Victor Diaz (5-5, 4.33 ERA).
Meanwhile, the Dash return to BB&T Ballpark on Tuesday for a three-game series against the Frederick Keys. Promotions for the homestand include a Free Food Tuesday, a camp day on Wednesday and a Lowes Foods Thirsty Thursday. For tickets and more information, call the Dash at (336) 714-2287 or visit wsdash.com.
