For the first time since 2018, the Winston-Salem Dash are heading to the postseason. And for the first time ever, they'll be participants in the South Atlantic League playoffs.
The Dash punched their ticket with an 8-2 victory over Rome, setting up a matchup with first-half champs Bowling Green. The locations for the divisional series have already been determined -- the Dash will host Game 1 on Tuesday, then head to Kentucky for the remainder of the series starting Thursday -- so the final two regular season games will merely determine whether the Dash get the title of "second-half champs." Right now, they're a game up on the Hot Rods in the South Division, but since Bowling Green won the first half, the Dash only needed to finish in second place ahead of Greenville to make the playoffs, and that's what Friday's scores secured.
How long ago was 2018? Well, the Winston-Salem Dash were members of the Carolina League, rather than the Sally League after the post-pandemic contraction and realignment of Minor League Baseball. The 2018 Dash were a regular-season juggernaut, finishing 84-54 on the year and winning both halves thanks to a roster that featured 100-plus games of Gavin Sheets, Blake Rutherford and Yermín Mercedes, second-half stays for Luis Robert, Nick Madrigal and Luis Gonzalez, and a season-opening rotation that featured Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning and Tanner Banks. They were also managed by Omar Vizquel, but the less said about that, the better.
Unfortunately, they were swept in the division series by the Buies Creek Astros, who now exist as the Fayetteville Woodpeckers in the Carolina League. The Dash haven't won a league title since 2003, when they were the Winston-Salem Warthogs. That roster was less impressive.
Charlotte 9, Gwinnett 3
- Rikuu Nishida was 0-for-4 with a walk.
- Edgar Quero went 1-for-3 with two walks.
- Ryan Galanie, 2-for-5.
- Junior Perez was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.
- David Sandlin: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K, 1 HR, 1 WP, 66 of 96 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*Sandlin averaged 96 with his fastball, but his curveball was the Statcast star. It grabbed first-pitch strikes on all four attempts and induced whiffs on seven of 11 swings.
Winston-Salem 8, Rome 2
- Javier Mogollón was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base.
- Jeral Perez, 3-for-5 with a strikeout.
- George Wolkow reached 100 RBIs by going 2-for-3 with double, HBP and sac fly, driving in three.
- James Taussig, 1-for-5 with three strikeouts.
- Nick McLain homered, doubled, walked and struck out twice.
Kannapolis 5, Delmarva 4
- Jaden Fauske was 0-for-3 with two walks, two strikeouts and two stolen bases.
- Matthew Boughton wore the golden sombrero during an 0-for-5 night.
- Abraham Nunez, 1-for-4 with a walk, strikeout and two stolen bases.
- Garrett Cleavinger bleeds: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 18 of 27 pitches for strikes.
