Top 2018 Moment #2: The night the Dash clinched a first-half title

As we get ready to flip the calendar to 2019, we are taking a look back at our favorite moments from an exciting 2018 Dash season! At #2, we relive the Dash’s first-half title clinch at home on June 14.

Amidst the on-field celebration at BB&T Ballpark after the Dash clinched their first playoff spot since 2015, there was silence.

Dash manager Omar Vizquel was getting a call.

It was Chris Getz, the White Sox Director of Player Development.

Before answering, the entire team, huddled up around Vizquel, began to get quiet.

“Hello,” answer the manager of the first-half champs.

“Congrats guys,” said Getz.

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” roared the team behind Vizquel, drowning out whatever else Getz had to say.

There was a lot to be hyped about on June 14. The Dash completed their mission of winning the first-half Southern Division crown, clinching it with an 8–2 win over Wilmington and a Buies Creek loss against Potomac.

And Winston-Salem celebrated like champs should:

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After the clubhouse celebration, the team moved to the field for a team picture:

The postgame festivities were far from over, though. Too many people were dry, including Vizquel.

That changed.

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Later in the night, Ti’Quan Forbes and Joel Booker did backflips. Vizquel, now wet from the beer bath, watched on as his players ran through the sprinklers. He joined them and then documented it all…with pink goggles on.

With pink goggles on, Dash manager Omar Vizquel documented the fun (Steven Harrison/Chicago White Sox).

And to top off the night, the soon-to-be Carolina League Manager of the Year lit postgame fireworks on the field.

It was a memorable night, aided by a great stretch to end the first half. Recent history be damned, too. After finishing with just 56 wins in each of the last two seasons, the Dash were heading to the playoffs.

The Dash entered the month of June trailing Down East and Buies Creek by 1.5 games in the Southern Division standings.

With 17 games left, Winston-Salem had some ground to make up. Around that time, Vizquel and the coaching staff called a team meeting. Janey Murray, who wrote an oral history about the first-half title clinch, documented what was said:

Infielder Mitch Roman: “I remember Omar just coming in and talking to us about, just, keep competing the way we have always competed this whole year, and we’re a great baseball club was what he kept telling us. He’s never been a part of something so close and special like we have on this team, like chemistry-wise.”

Assistant coach Guillermo Quiroz: “Myself, I said a couple words. I said, well, it’s not like winning a World Series, but you know, you have a chance to be a part of something special.”

Dash manager Omar Vizquel: “It’s important for them to, you know, refresh their mind, and you know, let them know that you are behind them, that you are trusting their work, and that they can do things good. The worst thing that you can do as a manager is kind of like turn your back on a player and don’t give them the confidence they deserve. You know, you got to let them play their game, and in the long run, it’s gonna be good.”

The team responded.

Winston-Salem went 11–2 over its next 13 games, sweeping Carolina twice and Myrtle Beach once.

The Dash’s magic number was whittled down to two entering their series opener with Wilmington at BB&T Ballpark.

The stars were aligned, and the Dash’s biggest pitching star, Dylan Cease, would be taking the ball.

Pitching in front of family, Cease, who was MLB Pipeline’s Pitcher of the Year for 2018, went eight innings and allowed just two runs against the Blue Rocks, capping off an impressive stint in Winston-Salem by finishing 9–2 with a 2.89 ERA.

The Blue Rocks scored in the first inning on an RBI groundout from Khalil Lee, but the early lead for Wilmington was shortlived.

The Dash answered in the first on a Gavin Sheets infield single that brought home twor uns.

Yermin Mercedes added to the advantage in the third with an RBI double, and then in the fifth, following a wild pitch that brought home a run, Mercedes smacked a two-run homer to make it a 6–1 game.

As the team added runs in the sixth and seventh inning, the Dash players continued to keep track of what was happening with Buies Creek.

“I remember some bullpen guys going into the clubhouse, coming in through the dugout, saying, ‘They’re still losing, they’re still losing.’ I think we had just taken a three-run lead or something, so obviously, we knew we still needed to do our part, but we knew at the same time that Buies Creek was getting beat and that there was a chance that we were gonna be celebrating,” Sheets said.

With an 8–2 lead in the ninth, Zach Thompson came in to shut the door. Thompson, who thrived with Winston-Salem to the tune of a 1.78 ERA this year, tossed a 1–2–3 inning, striking out Chase Vallot swinging on a devastating breaking ball to seal it.

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While the team celebrated deep into the night, the Dash won their 41st and final game of the first half the very next day.

Around that time, a reality settled into the clubhouse that the second-half team was going to look a lot different. Word had trickled down about who was moving up, and in the end, there would be seven promotions to Double-A Birmingham as the second half started.

Winston-Salem actually performed better after the All-Star Break, finishing with a 43–25 record and winning a second-half title.

Still, the chemistry in the first half was unparalleled, and perhaps Cease put it best when looking back on the season.

“It was truly one of the most fun ball clubs I’ve ever been on in my life.”

The first-half title celebration certainly showed that.