Dash loses 9-7, remains tied for lead

By: JournalNow Staff | JOURNAL STAFF REPORT
Published: September 07, 2009

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. --

Myrtle Beach jumped out to a big lead and fought off a late charge to defeat Winston-Salem 9-7 last night.

The Pelicans used a six-run third inning to take a 9-2 lead before the Dash rallied, only to fall short. Winston-Salem remains tied for first place in the Southern Division with Salem, which lost 1-0 to Lynchburg. Kinston, which defeated Potomac 9-3, is one game back with the regular season ending today.

The Dash scored two runs off Erik Cordier in the first inning. Dale Mollenhauer led off with a walk and Greg Paiml, who finished with a season-high four hits, followed with a double that put runners on second and third. Salvador Sanchez followed with a two-run single.

Myrtle Beach answered in the bottom of the first as Cole Miles led off with a triple against Jacob Rasner and scored on a double by Michael Fisher. Gerry Rodriguez smacked an RBI-double that tied the score at 2. Rodriguez stole third and scored on a ground out by Jesus Sucre to give the Pelicans a 3-2 edge.

Myrtle Beach broke the game open in the third inning when it scored six runs on seven hits and sent 12 batters to the plate. Miles, Donell Linares and Chris Shehan contributed RBI-singles, Adam Milligan drove in a run with a double and Rodriguez launched a two-run homer to help the Pelicans take a 9-2 lead.

Rasner (4-7) failed to make it out of the third and allowed nine runs on eight hits in 21/3 innings. It was his shortest outing and most runs allowed this season. The Dash bullpen was solid the rest of the way as Wander Perez and Levi Maxwell combined to pitch 52/3 scoreless innings.

The Dash comeback began in the top of the fifth inning when Logan Johnson led off with a solo home run. In the sixth, Johnson struck again with an RBI-single and Tyler Kuhn connected on a run-scoring double to trim the Pelicans' advantage to 9-6. Winston-Salem pulled to 9-7 in the seventh inning when Rudy Darrow had a wild pitch.

W-S ab r h bi MB ab r h bi

Mllhrer 2b 4 1 0 0 Miles cf 4 2 2 1

Paiml ss 6 2 4 0 Fisher 2b 4 1 2 1

Snchez rf 5 0 1 2 Lnares dh 5 1 1 1

Loman 1b 1 1 0 0 Rdrgez 1b 5 2 2 3

Greene cf 4 0 0 0 Sucre c 4 1 1 1

Jhnsn c 5 2 2 2 Mllgan lf 4 1 1 1

Kuhn lf 5 0 2 2 Shehan rf 4 1 2 1

Pschna dh 3 0 0 0 Fuller ss 3 0 1 0

Lang 3b 3 1 0 0 Gress 3b 4 0 2 0

Totals 36 7 9 6 Totals 37 9 14 9

Winston-Salem 200 013 100 -- 7

Myrtle Beach 306 000 00x -- 9

E--Rodriguez, Fuller, Sucre. DP--Winston-Salem 0, Myrtle Beach 0. LOB--Winston-Salem 13, Myrtle Beach 7. 2B--Paiml, Kuhn, Fisher, Rodriguez, Sucre, Milligan, Fuller, Shehan. 3B--Miles. HR--Johnson, Rodriguez. SB--Rodriguez. CS--Greene. PB--Johnson