Woodies suffer 11-0 loss at hands of Dash

There are ugly losses and there are uglier losses.

Friday’s 11-0 setback at the hands of the Winston-Salem Dash has to certainly go into the latter category for the Down East Wood Ducks. In front of 1,526 fans, the Woodies (13-29 second half, 48-64 overall) trailed 9-0 before they garnered their first hit of the game and the 11-run loss was the worst of the 2018 campaign.

There weren’t a lot of bright spots for a Wood Ducks squad that is all but mathematically eliminated from the postseason with exactly a month to go in the season. Leody Taveras and Alex Kowalczyk had two hits each in the DEWD’s six-hit attack.

On the other hand, the first-place Dash (24-15, 65-44) were dominant offensively and defensively. They led 3-0 after one inning, 9-0 after three and added two more runs in the sixth in the blowout.

Winston-Salem pounded out 16 hits, including four from shortstop Laz Rivera, who finished a home run short of the cycle. Catcher Yermin Mercedes finished with three hits while right-fielder Blake Rutherford and third baseman Yeyson Yrizarri had two hits each.

Dash starting pitcher Blake Battenfield scattered four hits and two walks in his six innings of work while striking out two Woodies. He improved to 4-2.

The Dash and Woodies play the second of their three-game set at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Historic Grainger Stadium. The first 500 children 12-and-under will receive a pair of Wood Ducks socks.