Mudcats fall to Dash as benches clear in near brawl
(ZEBULON, NC)- The Winston-Salem Dash scored two in the ninth and escaped with a 7-5 win against the Carolina Mudcats before a raucous crowd of 6,192 at Five County Stadium Saturday night.
Carlos Sanchez provided the final blow with a bases-loaded single in the ninth to plate the winning runs off closer Jose Flores (0-2).
Terance Marin (2-1) pitched Winston-Salem out of an eighth inning jam to earn the win. Kyle Bellamy struck out the final two batters for his third save.
The Dash saw the Carolina Mudcats erase a three run deficit with a two-run home run by Jeremie Tice in the sixth and two runs in the eighth. With two in scoring position and no one out, a ground ball by Carlos Moncrief and a wild pitch tied the score 5-5.
A verbal exchange between Mudcats’ manager Edwin Rodriguez and Dash skipper Tommy Thompson seemed to spark the Mudcats rally. Between half innings of the seventh, the two began a heated verbal exchange after Winston-Salem protested a bat later deemed legal.
The umpires stepped in to calm the situation for a moment, but as Thompson moved towards the third base coach’s box, both dugouts began to empty as the altercation resumed. There were no physical altercations, and both benches were warned.
Tony Wolters led the offense with three hits. Tice’s home run was his Carolina League-leading 10th of the year.