By Staff
Winston-Salem starter Tony Bucciferro took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning of the Dash’s 5-0 victory over the Frederick Keys on Sunday night at Harry Grove Stadium.
Bucciferro (7-9) only surrendered two base runners in the first eight innings. He walked Jerome Pena with two down in the third, while Glynn Davis reached on an error with two away in the sixth.
Pena began the ninth inning with a pop out to Joey DeMichele before Davis stepped up for his fourth plate appearance. He shot the first pitch beyond the glove of third baseman Nick Basto, who was even with the cut of the infield grass, for a single, the only knock of the contest for Frederick (13-16, 45-51).
On the next pitch, Bucciferro’s 103rd of the game, Adrian Marin bounced into a double play to wrap up the one-hit shutout. Including the game-ending twin killing, Bucciferro induced 17 groundball outs, to go along with four strikeouts, three fly outs, one line out, one pop out and one foul out.
Bucciferro was two outs away from the first no-hitter by a Winston-Salem hurler since Levi Maxwell accomplished the feat in a seven-inning doubleheader opener at Wilmington on June 19, 2009. Winston-Salem has only seen 14 no-hitters in its 101 years of baseball, and the franchise has not had a solo nine-inning no-no since Bill Kazmierczak turned in the gem on May 20, 1988, against Virginia.
Even though he fell short of the no-hitter, Bucciferro still tossed nine innings for the first time in his Minor League career. He also posted the fourth nine-inning complete game shutout by one pitcher in the Dash era (2009-present).
Winston-Salem (15-16, 45-55) did not score until the sixth inning against Frederick starter Sebastian Vader (1-2). Jacob May led off the frame with a walk and scored on a Keenyn Walker triple to break the tie.
Courtney Hawkins immediately followed with a two-run bomb out of the ballpark in left field to push the Dash’s lead to 3-0. Two batters later, Joey DeMichele leveled a solo shot to right field.
Winston capped its scoring in the eighth inning when Basto singled home Jason Coats, who reached on a double.
The rubber match of this three-game series comes up Monday at 2 p.m. The Dash will send Terance Marin (3-1, 2.75 ERA) to the mound, while Frederick’s starter has yet to be announced. Pregame coverage begins at 1:45 HERE.
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