The Winston-Salem Dash are moving on in the South Atlantic League playoffs, and they did it by finishing the job in convincing fashion.
After slipping into the postseason by taking second in the second half behind Bowling Green, Winston-Salem turned around and swept the Hot Rods out of the divisional series. The Dash paired their Game 1 comeback with a wire-to-wire 4-1 win in Game 2, and now they’ll wait on the outcome of Game 3 between Greensboro and Frederick to learn their opponent in the South Atlantic League Championship Finals. Winston-Salem is chasing its first league title since 2003.
Javier Mogollón kept making the biggest swing of the series. After coming through in Game 1, he delivered again in Game 2 when Bowling Green left fielder Nicandro Aybar lost track of a fly ball in the lights. The ball fell deep down the left-field line, with center fielder Braden Summerhill eventually tracking it down, but not before Mogollón had already turned it into a two-run triple that pushed the Dash ahead 3-1.
Mogollón finished 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk, while James Taussig added the power with a homer, two walks and a strikeout. Nick McLain went 1-for-3 with a walk, and Braden Holcomb was 1-for-4 with a strikeout. Kyle Lodise was hitless in the win.
Grant Umberger set the tone on the mound, working 6.1 innings and allowing three hits and one run, with no walks and 11 strikeouts. He gave up one home run and threw 61 of his 89 pitches for strikes.
Elsewhere in the White Sox system, Buffalo beat Charlotte 11-4. Rikuu Nishida finished 0-for-2 with three walks, Ryan Galanie went 0-for-4, and Junior Pérez was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Huascar Brazobán threw one inning, allowing one hit without a run, walk or strikeout. Tanner McDougal struggled in 1.1 innings, giving up four hits and four runs, all earned, with two walks, one strikeout and one homer while throwing 19 of 36 pitches for strikes.
Shane Smith struck out the only batter he faced on six pitches.
Knoxville topped Birmingham 4-1. Caleb Bonemer went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout, Colby Shelton was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, and Ryan Burrowes finished 1-for-2 with two walks.
Samuel Zavala singled, walked twice, struck out once and was caught stealing. Juan Carela worked five innings, allowing three hits and one run, with one walk and five strikeouts while throwing 49 of 69 pitches for strikes.
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