Results tagged ‘ Brandon Short ’

From W-S to Team USA?

The White Sox squared off with Team USA in an exhibition game yesterday, and a 2012 Dash alum had the unique opportunity to suit up for United States.

Right-handed reliever Kevin Vance was an emergency pitcher for Team USA, just in case something happened to any of the club’s pitchers as Joe Torre’s crew prepares for the World Baseball Classic. Vance did not pitch in the game, but he was decked out in Red, White and Blue…

The Sox and Team USA ended up finishing the game at a 4-4 tie, and no major injuries were suffered in the game. Thus, it was a success. The experience will also be one that Vance never forgets. The squad even trusted him with an important job during batting practice…the bucket (gathering all of the baseballs hit into the outfield).

Vance shined with Winston-Salem in 2012, and he will have quite a story to tell around the Triad if he returns for the start of the 2013 campaign.

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UPDATE: Also in this game, Dan Black, Brandon Short and Daniel Wagner appeared for Team USA. Wagner tweeted out this photo of it:

Congratulations to everyone involved!

- Brian

Dash Top 10: #7 – 5-Run 9th Stuns Salem

Michael Earley recorded the walk-off hit August 14 against Salem (Steve Orcutt/W-S Dash).

This is the fourth installment of the “Dash Top 10,” where we rehash the top 10 moments from the Dash’s historic 2012 season. Stay tuned to the Dash Board Blog for the rest of the series over the next two weeks.

Previous Top 10 Moments:
#10: Second-half clinch
#9: Hankerd’s walk-off
#8: 10-game win streak

Moment #7 (August 14): Winston-Salem scores five in the ninth to walk off with a 10-9 win over Salem.
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In the first half of the season, the Dash and Salem Red Sox waged quite a battle for the Southern Division championship. Winston-Salem outlasted the Sox despite struggling against Salem in head-to-head matchups.

The second half was a much different story even though both teams endured many promotions to Double-A. Winston remained atop the circuit, while Salem sunk to the Southern Division’s basement.

With the playoffs three weeks away, these two teams played in a game that meant very little in the grand scheme of the playoff chase. Salem was mere days away from official elimination, while the Dash could only add one home game to their postseason schedule with a division crown.

Still, baseball has a way of making the ordinary extraordinary, and game 121 for the Dash proved to be special.

For eight and a half innings, Salem controlled the contest. The Red Sox led 6-0 through six innings and 9-5 entering the home half of the ninth, which is when the magic happened.

After a Juan Silverio leadoff home run, Daniel Wagner followed with a bunt single, and Keenyn Walker drew a free pass. Two batters later, Brandon Short pulled the Dash within a run thanks to a two-run double.

Following Dan Black’s well-struck fly out, Cyle Hankerd delivered a two-out double off the wall in center to push across the tying run.

On the next pitch, Michael Earley laced a single to right-center, and Hankerd rumbled around third to beat Shannon Wilkerson’s throw and complete the Dash’s most improbable comeback of 2012.

The Dash’s season featured 90 total victories, but this one was among the best. It continued Winston’s push for the minors’ top record, while Salem suffered one of its most deflating losses during a terrible second half.

We will present the Dash’s sixth-best moment from the 2012 campaign tomorrow. This is the only moment that did not technically take place on the field. Talk to you then.

- Brian

A Short Stay

(Saul McSween/W-S Dash)

Imagine someone saying that you cannot do something you love for an entire year? After dislocated his left shoulder in the outfield during a spring training game earlier this year, this is what Brandon Short heard from the White Sox.

However, Short worked his tail off in order to return to action this season. After completing the final stages of his rehab in Winston-Salem, Short learned that he would be activated earlier this month.

Today, Short received even more good news to override a frustrating start to 2012: he was heading back to Double-A Birmingham.

Short played in 10 games with Winston-Salem and hit .297 (11-for-37) with seven RBI and four runs scored. The former 28th-round pick hit safely in seven straight games from August 10-17.

He now returns to the Southern League where he was an All-Star in 2011. Short hit .262 with 13 homers and 60 RBI in 130 games with the Barons a year ago.

With Short’s promotion to Double-A, the outfield picture opens up a little bit. Winston still has five players on the roster–Nick Ciolli, Michael Earley, Cyle Hankerd, Keenyn Walker and Ross Wilson–who can play in the outfield.

The Dash and Lynchburg Hillcats continue their four-game series tonight at 7:05 from Calvin Falwell Field. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:50 here. Talk to you then.

- Brian

Winston-Salem’s DL Thins By Two

Brandon Short is back with the Dash after a stellar 2010 season in Winston (Saul McSween/W-S Dash).

The Dash’s disabled list has been jam-packed lately, but fortunately the club has received two men who were battling back from injuries. This morning, the White Sox announced that right-handed hurler Ryan Buch (right shoulder inflammation) has been activated from the disabled list after almost one month on the shelf. Also, outfielder Brandon Short (left shoulder dislocation) is off the DL and joining the Dash for the first time this season.

Buch has been on a roller coaster ride here in 2012. After beginning the season in Winston-Salem’s rotation, the former eighth-round pick joined the bullpen late in the first half. During the All-Star Break, Buch was sent to Low-A Kannapolis to get more work in out of the ‘pen, and he thrived to the tune of one earned run allowed in 10 innings. He rejoined the club July 4 and made two appearances before suffering the shoulder injury.

On the season, Buch is 4-5 with a 6.63 earned run average in 15 appearances with Winston-Salem. As a reliever, Buch has surrendered 13 earned runs in nine and two-thirds frames of action.

Short has been on the shelf for a long time. The whole season, to be exact. He has been rehabbing from a dislocated left shoulder and will suit up as an active member of a White Sox affiliate for the first time this season tomorrow night in Wilmington.

Chicago’s 28th round pick in 2008, Short was a Carolina League midseason and postseason All-Star while with the Dash in 2010. He hit .316 with 15 homers and 79 RBI during the Dash’s run to the Mills Cup Championship Series two years ago. In 2011 with Double-A Birmingham, Short hit .262 with 13 homers and 60 RBI, and he once again played in an All-Star Game, this time in the Southern League.

The Dash’s roster now sits at the league maximum of 25 players. Winston-Salem is off today before opening up a six-game road trip with the first of three at Wilmington Tuesday night at 7:05. Enjoy your day away from Carolina League baseball.

- Brian

Dashing Through the Madness

March Madness is finally here, with 16 games today and tomorrow. By now, I’m sure you have made all your picks. Here in the Dash front office, we are having a pool, with the winner earning a free date with Bolt.

Here are some of my favorite predictions from fellow Dash front office team members:
- Gerri Brommer, our VP of Sponsor Services and a strong supporter of the Dash Board, is quite daring. She is one of two people with Indiana in the Final Four out of the South, and she has 6th seeded UNLV and 5th seeded Temple in the Elite Eight.
- The most popular significant upset is Long Beach State over New Mexico in a 12-5 game. Six people (out of 13) have “The Beach” advancing to the weekend, and two have LBSU heading to the Sweet 16.
- Sales superstar Jay Andrews and stadium ops czar Corey Bugno have Harvard in the Sweet 16 even though their first-round opponent (Vanderbilt) is a popular Elite Eight/Final Four pick nationwide. I happen to think the Crimson will beat Vandy, but Jay and Corey take it to another level.
- Nikki Caldwell, my new best friend, is the only one other than me to advance my alma mater, Ohio, past Michigan, the program that calls Ohio State “Ohio.” I have the Bobcats in the Sweet 16. Maybe that is a bit biased.

So here is how the Final Four shapes out in our 13-person pool:
South: 11-Kentucky; 2-Indiana
West: 6-Michigan State; 5-Missouri; 1-Marquette; 1-Louisville
East: 7-Ohio State; 4-Florida State; 1-Vanderbilt; 1-Cincinnati
Midwest: 7-North Carolina; 6-Kansas

Good luck in your brackets! Here are a few Dots on this gorgeous Thursday.

DASH DOTS:

  • It was a tough and early end to Spring Training for 2010 Dash alum Brandon Short. Short, a non-roster invitee to Camelback Ranch, crashed into the center-field wall in the White Sox’s March 8 game against Texas. He dislocated his left shoulder and tore his left labrum. Short will likely miss the 2012 season after playing all of 2011 with Double-A Birmingham.
  • Things are going much better for a Dash infielder from a year ago. Tyler Saladino was moved into big league camp yesterday. A seventh-round selection in ’10, Saladino hit .270 in 102 games in Winston-Salem last summer. Good for him.
  • Also yesterday, three Dash alums moved around the White Sox’s system. Right-hander Gregory Infante was assigned to Triple-A Charlotte, and Brian Omogrosso and Jake Petricka were reassigned to minor league camp. Still, this trio gained some invaluable experience and learned some fantastic lessons while with the big leaguers.
  • I am actually heading back home to Ohio to complete my official move to the Winston-Salem area, so the blog will be a little quiet over the weekend. I will be back in town late Monday, so I’ll rejoin you then. Mike will step in for a post or two in my absence.

I keep my bracket in my back pocket until it is no longer relevant. Here’s hoping I still have it when I talk to you again next week. Enjoy the games.

- Brian

160 Days

Let’s rewind to September 28, 2011. It was 160 days ago, and the White Sox’s 2011 season came to an end with a 3-2 loss at home against the Blue Jays.

Since then, the White Sox lost their most recognizable face–manager Ozzie Guillen–to the Miami Marlins. Arguably their most consistent player in the last decade–left-handed starter Mark Buehrle–followed Guillen to South Beach.

This afternoon at 3:05 ET, the Sox begin a new era under first-time skipper Robin Ventura. 160 days after the 2011 season ended, the White Sox are back on the field against their Camelback Ranch buddies, the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The White Sox have 59 players in Spring Training at this point, and 19 of them made a stop at some point in Winston-Salem. Here’s a list:

Chris Sale is one of the most notable Dash alums in White Sox camp this year.

PITCHERS:
- Dylan Axelrod (2009 and 2010)
- Anthony Carter (2008 and 2009)
- Gregory Infante (2009 and 2010)
- Nate Jones (2008, 2009, and 2010)
- Charles Leesman (2010)
- Brian Omogrosso (2007)*
- Jake Petricka (2011)*
- Addison Reed (2011)
- Chris Sale (2010)
- Hector Santiago (2009, 2010, and 2011)

CATCHERS:
- Mike Blanke (2011)*
- Josh Phegley (2010)*

INFIELDERS:
- Eduardo Escobar (2010)
- Jim Gallagher (2009)*
- Tyler Kuhn (2009)*
- Brent Morel (2009)

OUTFIELDERS:
- Jordan Danks (2009)*
- Jared Mitchell (2011)*
- Brandon Short (2010)*
* = non-roster invitee

So, what’s the take away from this? Only three of the 19 players on this list played in Winston-Salem as Warthogs. It means that the 40-man roster is largely made up of free agent signings or trade acquisitions.

For example, seven of the nine offensive players above are non-roster invitees. The White Sox’s 40-man roster is loaded with offensive pieces that were developed, to some extent, outside the organization.

However, this is an exciting time for the prospects in White Sox camp. With the change in scenery, this could be a new era, and any production from the organization’s youth will be a huge bonus. The Dash have provided a solid chunk of that youth in the Chicago’s system.

Over the next few days, we will take a look at these 19 players and what their expectations are during camp. Let us know in the comments which former Winston-Salem players you think will make the 25-man roster when the big league club heads to Arlington for Opening Day against the Rangers April 6. It’s 32 days away!

- Brian

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