Ninth Inning Superman Catch Denies Tourists a Win

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists battled for nine innings against the Greenville Drive on Saturday night. The Tourists were within a run heading to the bottom of the ninth and nearly had a lead-off extra-base hit; however, Tyler Esplin had other ideas. The Greenville outfielder’s diving catch helped clinch the game and Asheville fell 3-2.

The highlight reel grab by Esplin took away a lead-off double, possibly a triple, by Cody Orr which would have put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. The Tourists did well to stay in the game considering they fell behind 3-0 early and managed only four hits on the night. Asheville’s hitters also struck out 16 times.

Greenville plated single runs in the second, third, and fourth innings. The Tourists starting pitcher, Jose Bravo, did well making sure no crooked numbers were put on the scoreboard during those frames. Bravo gave up five extra-base hits but settled in to pitch five innings and gave his team a chance.

Jay Groome was unhittable for Greenville at the start. The lefty retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced with seven strikeouts. With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Scott Schreiber poked a single up the right field line. The next three hitters all worked walks and Asheville had their first run.

Blair Henley came in to relive Bravo and Henley orchestrated his best outing of the season. The right-hander spun four shutout innings with seven strikeouts and even pitched around a lead-off triple in the top of the ninth; one of only two hits Henley surrendered.

The Tourists plated their second run in the bottom of the eighth when Tyler Krabbe doubled into the left field corner with two outs. Korey Lee raced home from first base to make it a one-run contest.

The Drive pitching staff retired the next four Tourists hitters to end the game, which included the robbery superman catch by Esplin to begin the bottom of the ninth.