Winston-Salem Walks-Off Rome, 7-6

WINSTON-SALEM, NC (June 27^th, 2024) – Trailing by two runs heading into the eighth inning, the Winston-Salem Dash plated two in the bottom of the eighth and walked-off the Rome Emperors in the ninth, taking game three, 7-6, on Thursday evening at Truist Stadium in front of 3,574 fans.

Winston-Salem (33-39, 2-4) got off to a fast start in the bottom of the first. Samuel Zavala was hit to lead off the game for the Dash and Mario Camilletti drove him home on a single down the left field line, giving Winston-Salem a 1-0 lead. The Dash tacked on one more run in the frame and led 2-0 after an inning.

Rome (40-30, 4-2) cut into the deficit in the second and tied the game in the third. In the fourth, Carlos Arroyo blasted a two-run homer to left sending the Emperors in front, 4-2.

Dash starter Shane Murphy got into the fifth inning before giving way to the bullpen with two outs, and in the sixth, Rome added an insurance run after a triple and a balk scored EJ Exposito giving the visitors a 5-2 advantage. Winston-Salem started chipping away at the three-run Rome lead.

With runners on the corners, Shawn Goosenberg blooped a single into center scoring Zavala while DJ Gladney came home to score from first after a throwing error against Emperors centerfielder Kevin Kilpatrick Jr making it a one-run game, 5-4.

The Emperors answered back with a run in the top of the seventh building the lead back to two, and in the bottom of the seventh, the Dash loaded the bases with two outs, but could not push across a run and went to the eighth inning trailing, 6-4.

After a clean top of the eighth, the Dash bats woke up. With two outs, Ryan Galanie and Colby Smelley both doubled bringing home a run before Bryce Willits tied the game at six with a single, sending the two sides to the ninth tied for the second straight night.

Max Roberts entered for Winston-Salem in the top of the ninth and struck out the side giving Winston-Salem a chance to walk-off the Emperors in the bottom half.

In the bottom of the ninth, Eddie Park reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, putting the winning run in scoring position for Camilletti. After fouling off multiple pitches, Camilletti smoked a single into left field bringing home Park and sending the Dash home winners, 7-6, capping off a three-run comeback.

With the win for Winston-Salem, Rome still leads the series, 2-1, with game four on Friday night. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. from Truist Stadium.