Down on the Farm: Frederick Keys Defeat Winston Salem 7-6

Frederick, MD:

The Frederick Keys notched their third win in a row as they defeated the Winston-Salem Dash 7-6 at Harry Grove Stadium Tuesday.

Ronnie Welty helped lead the charge with triples in the first two innings and two RBI.

Welty, who was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 20th round of the 2008 draft, has bounced up-and-down between Frederick and Double-A Bowie the last couple seasons.  He spent the entire 2011 season with the Baysox and hit .228 with 13 homers and 45 RBI in 122 games.  In four games with the Keys in 2012, the Washington native is hitting .352 with two home runs and six RBI. The success gap Welty says is due to the pitching.

“Really the biggest difference is that pitchers will throw any pitch in any count,” he said. “You kind of know what they’re going to throw if they’re behind in the count or ahead.”

The Keys and Dash combined to score 10 runs in the first two and a half innings. Frederick is among the leaders in hitting this season and have scored at least five runs in each game this season and seven in three of four.

“We’re all hitting really well as a team,” Welty said. “Everyone is contributing really well and we are just riding that train.  Everyday it’s a new person coming through and we are hoping to keep that going.”

The game conditions were not that of an April night game as the temperature was in the 40’s with wind gusts in the 20-30 MPH range.  With 12 walks between the two teams, the game went nearly three hours and had a lot of the players freezing including the manager.

“It wasn’t pretty, but I’m glad we came out on top,” Orlando Gomez said. “It was windy and cold.  It wasn’t the kind of game you were expecting to see.”

Frederick starter Nathan Moreau had a rough outing as he walked six Winston-Salem hitters in 2 2/3 innings of work.  He also gave up four earned runs on five hits.

The Winston-Salem starter Ryan Buch wasn’t any better as he gave up five earned runs on six hits and walked four in three innings.

 ***Additional game notes***

• Third baseman Ty Kelly extended his hitting streak to four games and is batting .615 to begin the season with an on-base percentage of .667.
• The Keys were 5 for 13 with runners in scoring position Tuesday
• Frederick hit .323 as a team Tuesday
• Bobby Stevens leads the Carolina League in home runs (3).

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