As the first half of the Minor League Baseball season wrapped up and the second half continued on, The Winston-Salem Dash had their sights set for a better half.
As of June 23, the Dash have an amazing start to the second half with a record of 2-1 which gives them an overall record of 27-41.
This second half has offered the Dash a better chance at securing a playoff spot. First-year Winston-Salem Dash manager Pat Leyland said this new beginning will come with its challenges.
“There’s always a learning curve in sports, especially in the lower levels of the minor leagues,” Leyland said. “Some are new to professional baseball, some of them have been around for a while and are constantly learning, and that includes myself and the staff.”
The team has remained positive despite an underwhelming record from the first half of the season.
“The season up until this point has been up and down,” Leyland said. “We just concluded the first half where there are a lot of things we were proud of. We had a lot of promotion and we had a lot of individual growth. I was not totally pleased with our overall team performance, but as I said we’re now in the second half and we have a clean slate.”
“The season up until this point has been up and down,” Leyland said. “We just concluded the first half, where there are a lot of things we were proud of. We had a lot of promotion and we had a lot of individual growth. I was not totally pleased with our overall team performance, but as I said we’re now in the second half and we have a clean slate.”
Newly acquired pitcher Dylan Cumming from the San Francisco Giants said he has had some highs and lows this season, as well. Cumming made his first appearance for the Dash on June 12 in which he pitched one scoreless inning, while striking out two and walking one.
“Getting released by the Giants three weeks ago was definitely one of the biggest hurdles of my life,” Cumming said. “Landing with the White Sox was an exciting experience.”
While the negatives will always be there, Leyland reflected back on the positive aspects the first half of the season brought.
“I was very pleased with our process, our competitiveness, our preparation. Those things all checked out,” Leyland said. “We just didn’t get the results we wanted to.”
Leyland added that the team is looking to refine what it learned during the first half of the season and will bring that momentum to future games.
“Going forward, you’re always looking for little edges and little ways to improve and that’s something the staff and I do on a day-to-day basis, as well as the players,” Leyland said. “We have a lot of resources at our disposal, and we try to use them to get this thing going in the right direction.”
Angel Tejada
Angel Tejada lives in Athens, Georgia, where he attends Clarke Central High School. As an avid athlete and lifelong sports fan, he discovered a passion for journalism through writing about sports and analyzing his favorite broadcasts at a young age. This led him to join his high school’s news magazine, The ODYSSEY Media Group, during his freshman year. Now, he serves as an assistant to his adviser, training and guiding the incoming freshmen. He looks forward to pursuing a career in sports journalism and exploring where it takes him.
Ethan Ward
Ethan Ward lives in Nashville, North Carolina, and attends NRM Early College High School. He has worked extremely hard to achieve his goals, such as finding his passion and working daily to gain knowledge and experience. Ethan has been volunteering to help others since the start of high school, often helping elementary schools and people in need. He has also been helping his local college with writing, interviewing, social media posts, photography and videography. He recently completed an interview with the NRM college president about the school’s new partnership with a STEM program for students on the east coast. Ethan has been recognized as scholar of the month previously for not only his academic achievements, but his overall character. He plans on majoring in journalism because of his love for writing, the media, politics and sports.
Gillian Williams
Gillian Williams was born in Athens, Georgia, raised in Elberton, Georgia, until she was 8 and then moved to Athens, Georgia. Now a rising senior at Clarke Central High School and the Athens Community Career Academy, she is a Viewpoints staffer for the ODYSSEY Media Group, the FCCLA Treasurer at ACCA, student ambassador for ACCA, audio/visuals director at Carlton Grove Baptist Church, and host of the “Educating the Masses” podcast for the ODYSSEY Media Group. She is passionate about journalism, teaching, traveling and learning languages. Gillian hopes to pursue a career in elementary education in college to become a kindergarten teacher.