The Week in Winston: Dash update, April 20-26

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A 4-3 week cooled off the Winston-Salem Dash’s hot start somewhat, culminating in a four-hit shutout by the hated Hickory Crawdads, but the bats have not completely died (what an encouraging start to a post!). And the pitching has… they’ve got pitchers, alright. Down there in Winston-Salem. Technically.

Wilfred Veras took home South Atlantic League Player of the Week honors for the week of April 17-23, over which he batted .407/.448/.852 with three doubles and three home runs in six games. Those three homers were hit in consecutive games; he also swiped two bases, walked twice, and struck out seven times. Meanwhile, Loidel Chapelli Jr. has slowed down from his unbelievable start and is 3 for his last 17.

Currently, the Dash are in the middle of an eight-game series against Hickory, compensating for multiple rainouts earlier this month. Four of those games were or will be seven-inning doubleheader halves, in case you thought you were having a long week.

Norge Vera was placed on the injured list on April 22 with no other information available. His last appearance was on April 19, when he left his start after 24 pitches and 0.2 innings.

Top pitching performances

Tommy Sommer, start: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K 

Season: 7 IP, H, R, 5 BB, 15 K !!!

Jonathan Cannon, start: 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, BB, 7 K

Season: 16 IP, 16 H, 7 R, 5 BB, 15 K

Brooks Gosswein, two (long) relief appearances: 10.1 IP, 10 H, 4 R (3 ER), 4 BB, 8 K 

Season: 15.1 IP, 12 H, 5 R (4 ER), 4 BB, 15 K

Everhett Hazelwood, two relief appearances: 4 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Season: 10.2 IP, 8 H, R, 3 BB, 13 K

Chase Plymell, two relief appearances: 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Season: 10.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 5 K

Adisyn Coffey, two relief appearances: 3 IP, H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Season: 5.2 IP, H, 0 R, BB, 9 K

Top hitting performances

Terrell Tatum (CF): 7-for-23, 3 doubles, 1 home run, 6 runs, 5 RBI, 3 walks, 9 strikeouts, 0-1 steals-caught stealing

Season: 14 games, .306/.469/.592, 6 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 17 runs, 12 RBI, 15 walks, 16 strikeouts, 8-2 steals-caught stealing

DJ Gladney (1B/LF/CF): 7-for-27, 2 home runs, 5 runs, 9 RBI, 3 walks, 7 strikeouts, 0-1 steals-caught stealing

Season: 16 games, .294/.319/.544, 4 home runs, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 walks, 19 strikeouts, 1-1 steals-caught stealing

Wilfred Veras (RF): 8-for-27, 3 doubles, 1 home run, 1 run, 4 RBI, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, 2-0 steals-caught stealing

Season: 16 games, .313/.333/.563, 7 doubles, 3 home runs, 9 runs, 12 RBI, 3 walks, 18 strikeouts, 3-2 steals-caught stealing

Honorable mentions: Taishi Nakawake, who trades off middle infield playing time with Loidel Chapelli Jr. and Jason Matthews, but makes the most of it when he does, going 6-for-14 with a walk, hit by pitch, and four strikeouts in four games. The newly-promoted Chris Lanzilli played in four games, going 3-for-11, but walking five times.

Weekly rundown

April 20

Drew Dalquist gave up zero home runs but couldn’t make it beyond the second inning, and Brooks Gosswein gave up not one buttwosolohome runs to Logan Cerny, an Astros prospect who is batting .169/.269/.356. Between their struggles and the Dash’s various mishaps and 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position, this ended up a fairly brutal one-run loss.

Dalquist had a fairly easy 1-2-3 first, gave up a leadoff double in the second, then looked like he was going to get out of it with the runner on third and two outs. Instead, he gave up two more doubles and a single, quickly putting the Dash in a 2-0 hole.

Loidel Chapelli Jr., apparently no longer bothered by the sore hand that kept him out of action for a few games last week, doubled in the fourth and scored on Wilfred Veras’ third home run both of the season and of his last three games. 

At a 2-2 tie, the fifth was lefty Gosswein’s third inning of relief, and he gave up one run each in that inning, the sixth, and the seventh. The Dash prised back the crucial tying run twice in their own halves of the sixth and seventh, but failed to do so in response in the eighth and ninth. 

Nobody got credit for the RBI in the sixth inning; Prototypical Leadoff Guy Terrell Tatum hit a one-out single, was wild pitched to second, took third on a Chapelli fly out, and scored as DJ Gladney struck out on another wild pitch, making it 3-3 Dash.

In the seventh, Wes Kath’s power burst continued with a leadoff double, his first of the year. In seven games between April 15, his first home run, and April 23, his first triple, he hit .344/.344/.656 with two dongs, two doubles, and the one triple. He did walk zero times and strike out 12, and has three walks to 27 strikeouts in 13 games overall this year, but we’ll take small steps.

He eventually scored after a wild pitch put him on third for Taishi Nakawake’s two-out single, tying it at 4-4. Logan Cerny did his thing again in the bottom of the seventh, though, hastening Gosswein’s exit and putting the final score at 5-4 Tourists. 

Chase Plymell pitched a perfect 1.1 innings. To the credit of the pitching staff, they walked zero Tourists and struck out 10.

April 21

The Dash spent a good portion of this game either trailing or ahead by just one, but a nine-run outburst over the last three innings ultimately made it a laugher. Terrell Tatum drove in five, eight players reached base multiple times, and while they did strike out 12 times, they also drew 10 walks.

Kohl Simas started for the second time, not quite as good as the first, over which he allowed just one run in five innings. Here, he gave up more runs (three) in fewer innings (four), never the direction you want to see things going. He gave up all three of his runs in the first two innings, which featured two doubles, a balk, and a home run (although notably, he and the rest of the staff did manage to keep Logan Cerny in the ballpark).

When he exited after four, though, it was with a 4-3 lead. With one out in the top of the second, Jason Matthews walked, then Keegan Fish and the red-hot Taishi Nakawake both singled made it 2-1. Tatum then went deep for the second time, his three-run blast putting the Dash on top 4-2, cut to 4-3 after the bottom of the second.

Dylan Burns relieved Simas for his third appearance on the year and gave up his 10th, 11th, and 12th runs of the season in his fourth overall inning, which gave Asheville a 6-4 lead. Burns, 26, was an undrafted free agent signing early last year, and while he struck out 82 in 79 innings between the Arizona Complex League and Kannapolis and had an ERA of 3.30, he also walked 29 and let five of seven inherited runners score.

Undeterred, the Dash got all three back in the seventh: Tatum reached on error, Loidel Chapelli Jr. walked, and DJ Gladney put the Dash back up 7-6 with one swing.

They didn’t stop now, boys, in the eighth as well, with Matthews, Fish, and Nakawake respectively walking, doubling, and singling to extend the lead to 8-6. Chapelli drove in Nakawake with a single (9-6) and a combination wild pitch/catcher error allowed both of them to come around and make it 11-6.

Tatum put an exclamation mark on top in the ninth, his two-out, two-run double scoring Matthews and Nakawake to put the final score at 13-6.

In relief of Burns, Everhett Hazelwood and Adisyn Coffey both threw two scoreless innings. Dash pitching struck out 11 Tourists and walked two.

April 22

The rough mid-game pitching here was a shame because it spoiled a fantastic start by 2021 10th-rounder Tommy Sommer. The line from his first start of the season on April 16 was eye-catching enough, one solo home run the only hit allowed over three innings, with the eight strikeouts really popping out, but he actually improved on that. He struck out a mere seven over four innings here, but while he did walk three, he held the Tourists hitless.

Haylen Green and Ernesto Jaquez gave up a home run each en route to separate four-run appearances covering the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings. After accumulating no hits through the first four innings, Asheville gathered six against those two pitchers, walking four times with just one strikeout; eight runs was more than enough to win it.

Jake Palisch valiantly pitched one out of the eighth and all of the ninth, perfect as he went, and did not get the save because the Dash were not in position to and indeed did not win.

At the plate, the team was an ugly 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position, so this game could have been much different. Loidel Chapelli Jr. drove in two with a second-inning double, but that was it for them until the ninth. Michael Turner led off that inning with a double, and two outs later, Alsander Womack singled him in for a final score of 8-3 Tourists. 

April 23

Asheville had multiple chances to leave with a 3-3 series split, but instead sent Winston out of town happy, victors of the series (4-2) and the game (8-5). 

Last year’s third round pick Jonathan Cannon has been very solid on the mound, putting down his second five-inning, two-run start in three (and striking out seven), although some deep counts drove his pitch count up to 79. Both runs he allowed scored in the first on a walk, double, and two-RBI single; he did not let another Tourist reach base for the rest of his outing.

The first Dash comeback happened in the top of the second, Wes Kath’s one-out single eventually coming around to score after Ivan González and Chris Lanzilli kept the inning alive with two-out walks, giving Taishi Nakawake the opportunity to dump in a two-run single, tying it 2-2.

Which is where it remained until Dylan Burns returned in the sixth, and exited trailing 3-2. He did eventually receive the win, but he has allowed at least one run in all four appearances he’s made this season (13 total in five innings).

Again, though, the Dash bounced back in the next half-inning: DJ Gladney walked and scored on Wes Kath’s triple, Kath himself then scoring when Alsander Womack doubled and put the Dash up 4-3. 

Wisely, they added four more in the eighth, which went Lanzilli walk, Nakawake single, Tatum bunt single (bases loaded), Chapelli fly out, Gladney two-run single (6-3), wild pitch, Wilfred Veras single (7-3), Kath single (8-3, Veras out a third on the throw). Womack struck out to end the threat.

In relief, Chase Plymell threw two scoreless innings, a double and single the only baserunners allowed. Tristan Stivors got through the first two outs of the ninth without issue, but two walks and two singles drove in two last Tourists runs for a final score of 8-5 Dash.

April 25, Game 1

The eight-game gauntlet against the Rangers-affiliated Crawdads started with a classic Tuesday doubleheader, something both fans and employees simply love to see. The Dash swept it (spoilers) thanks to good-enough pitching and also DJ Gladney.

The Dash struck first in the first, and “the Dash” in this situation means “Gladney,” who experimented with the long ball on the first pitch he saw. It was the 21-year-old’s fourth homer of the year in 15 games after breaking out for 19 in 122 games last year.

Pitcher Noah Owen started for the first time all year after being used almost exclusively in that capacity last season, to debatable effect (5.16 ERA in 106.1 Low-A innings; 32 walks, 83 strikeouts). His two relief outings earlier this year resulted in multiple earned runs allowed, but despite his three walks here, he limited the ‘Dads to zero hits in 2.2 innings. The one run against him was unearned, catcher Michael Turner’s error moving a runner from first to third for a sacrifice fly in the third inning. (As a side note, it’s apparently really easy to accidentally hit the “x player left the game due to an injured x” button on Gameday, as Turner was noted to have left the game after one batter in the top of the first inning with an injured hand.)

The game stayed tied at one until the bottom of the fifth, Goosenberg doubling to lead the inning off and scoring on Alsander Womack’s single (2-1 Dash).

They (Gladney) added a big insurance run in the sixth, as back-to-back singles from Gladney and Wilfred Veras opened the inning against the appropriately-named Hickory pitcher Winston ”-” Santos. The less-appropriately-but-still-catchily-named Aiden Anderson got through two outs, but then Turner walked and Womack reached on an error that let Gladney scamper home for a 3-1 lead.

Haylen Green and Everhett Hazelwood mowed through the Crawdads, Hazelwood dancing around four hits over two innings for the win. The owner of a 9.27 ERA over 33 Winston (Salem) innings last year, this year has been a marked improvement—through 10.2 innings he’s allowed just one run, a solo shot, for a 0.84 ERA, and has struck out 13 while walking three.

Jake Palisch had a rocky but successful seventh (a doubleheader ninth), giving up a run on three singles and also striking out three swinging for the 3-2 Dash win.

April 25, Game 2

Terrell Tatum reached base three times via two hits and a walk, and Chris Lanzilli reached base three times via one hit and two walks, but DJ Gladney drove in three runs via two grounders and one hit, so who’s to say who had the best game here? 

Tatum didn’t hesitate to start things off in the top of the first, doubling and coming around to score on Gladney’s ground ball out (1-0 Dash). The Crawdads quickly answered with a two-out solo dong against strikeout machine Jonah Scolaro in the bottom of the first, the 1-1 tie lasting all of one full inning.

In the top of the third, Lanzilli singled, Jason Matthews was hit by a pitch, and Tatum broke the tie with a sacrifice bunt (assist to third baseman error, which allowed him to reach). The Crawdads second baseman, Griffin Cheney, exited with an injury, necessitating two infielders to change positions and a new shortstop, Max Acosta, to enter the game; Tatum immediately tested this out by attempting to steal second, and found that Acosta was, indeed, ready for action, nailed for the first out of the inning. After Loidel Chapelli Jr. walked, Gladney grounded out to score another run, 3-1 Dash.

Scolaro, an undrafted free agent signing last year, gave up one more run in the bottom of the third on a double and error (3-2), although the runner would have scored anyone on a single later that inning. He gave up two runs total over five innings, striking out five as well; in his first appearance, all five of his outs came via strikeout, and in his second, he whiffed six over three innings of work. With this start factored in, he now has a 6.23 ERA over 8.2 innings, and has struck out 16 while walking three. Those 16 Ks are tied for 20th in the league; this was his third appearance, but first start and longest outing.

The Dash gave themselves a cushion in the fifth with another two runs; Tatum led off with an infield single and Chapelli was hit by a pitch, then Gladney singled in Tatum (4-2) and Veras hit a sacrifice fly for Chapelli (5-2).

Ernesto Jaquez moved to 3-0 on the season with two scoreless innings, striking out four, and Adisyn Coffey excelled again with a perfect two-strikeout seventh.

April 26

It was another short outing for Drew Dalquist, who threw 38 of 62 pitches for strikes over three innings of work. He gave up a triple to the first batter he faced, eventually balking him in, and in the third, allowed a double and two-run blast that would have been for three if he hadn’t picked a runner off one batter before. In 6.2 innings this year, he’s struck out nine, walked two, and allowed nine runs on 12 hits.

Brooks Gosswein is apparently being used specifically in long relief of Dalquist, which he did for the second time this week. He entered the game with zero walks on the season, so of course damn probability reared its ugly head and he walked four. Over his 5.2 innings, he threw 93 pitches (53 for strikes), and the one run he allowed was cleverly unearned on his own error. Likely due to the elevated pitch count, he was removed after walking a batter with two outs in the ninth, Dylan Burns escaping with no trouble other than a stolen base.

The Dash were basically silent at the plate, although with two of their four hits landing for doubles, that silence was occasionally fairly loud. They did not walk, but they did strike out 12 times. Terrell Tatum and Wilfred Veras doubled (six for Tatum and seven for Veras so far this year, tied for second and alone in first in the league respectively). Michael Turner accounted for the other two Dash hits, both singles.

With the 4-0 loss, the Dash are 11-5 on the year. They have a one-game divisional lead.