Fish Walks It Off for Dash in 10-9 Roller Coaster Win

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (August 27, 2022) — The Winston-Salem Dash rallied from a six-run deficit to defeat Asheville 10-9 in 11 innings.

Asheville plated the first run of the ballgame, in the top of the first inning. Zach Daniels singled with one out, then advanced into scoring position when he stole second base. Joey Loperfido then drove Daniels in with a double, giving Asheville an early 1-0 edge.

Neither side plated a run in the second or third innings, but Asheville was able to string a series of base hits together in the fourth. Christian Gonzalez and Luis Guerrero both singled with one out, then Tim Borden got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Following a mound visit, Jose Alvarez unloaded the bases with a three-run triple into the right field corner. Kenedy Corona reached base on an E6 after that, with Alvarez scoring to make it a 5-0 game. Later in the same inning, Loperfido doubled to plate Corona, and extend the lead to 6-0. All told, Asheville plated five runs in the top of the fourth.

Alsander Womack laced a double to lead off the home half of the fourth. A fielder’s choice ground out pushed him ahead to third base, where he was able to score on a base hit by Colby Smelley.

But in the top of the fifth, Asheville got that run right back. Luis Guerrero reached first on a fielder’s choice with one out, before swiping second. He was later able to come home on a single by Tim Borden to make it 7-1 Asheville.

On to the bottom of the eighth, where Winston-Salem was able to cut into that six run deficit. Riley Jepson worked a one-out walk, before Harvin Mendoza smoked a double off the center field wall to drive Jepson in. Then, back-to-back wild pitches allowed Mendoza to come all the way around to score, which made it a 7-3 ballgame.

Ty Madrigal worked a scoreless top of the ninth, giving the Dash a chance to fight more in the ninth. First, James Beard reached on an E6. After Beard, Andy Atwood singled into right, but a throwing error on the relay allowed Beard to score and cut the score to 7-4. Alsander Womack then singled to push Atwood to third, where Ben Norman plated him on a comebacker to the pitcher. The inning rolled along with a Colby Smelley single for another first and third situation, with one out. Smelley then swiped second, before Riley Jepson tied the game with an opposite-field single. The Dash could not plate another run, sending the game into extra innings.

Luis Guerrero began as the ghost runner on second base, and he quickly moved to third on a wild pitch by Cooper Bradford. Later, Kenedy Corona doubled with two strikes and two outs to plate Guerrero to make it 8-7. The next batter, Zach Daniels, doubled as well to make it 9-7.

In the home half of the 10th, Keegan Fish was the ghost runner and he also moved to third on a wild pitch from Franny Cobos. James Beard then reached on an infield single, with Fish dashing home to make it 9-8. Beard moved to second on a wild pitch, but a strikeout for the second out put the game in the hands of Alsander Womack. He battled the count to 2-2, before lining a game-tying single back up the middle to send the game to the 11th inning.

Nick Gallagher entered for the top of the 11th, and worked through a scoreless inning.

Ben Norman was the ghost runner on second, and he quickly advanced to third on a perfect sacrifice bunt by Brandon Bossard. Then, Asheville elected to intentionally walk both Jepson and Mendoza, to face Keegan Fish with the bases loaded. He fell behind 0-2, before lining a walk-off single to send the Dash home winners, 10-9. Gallagher got the win on his line, with Cobos suffering the loss.