Seesaw Battle Leaves Tourists One Run Short

ASHEVILLE- A back and forth game at McCormick Field between the Asheville Tourists and the Columbia Fireflies ended with the visitors holding on late to beat the Tourists 7-6. Asheville held a 5-4 lead going into the ninth inning; however, the Fireflies used two fielding miscues to rally for the lead.
The Tourists then trailed 7-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth. Bret Boswell's solo Home Run brought Asheville within a run. Steven Linkous tripled with two outs to put the tying run at third; however, a strikeout ended the threat and the game.

Asheville overcame a 3-1 deficit with a three-run seventh inning that featured a two run double by Casey Golden and an RBI single by Linkous. After Columbia tied the score in the top of the eighth, Sean Bouchard hit a two-out solo Home Run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Tourists the late lead.
Tommy Doyle was called upon to nail down the win. Unfortunately, the defense behind Doyle was spotty. Asheville committed two errors on the first two Columbia batters of the inning. That immediately tied the game 5-5. The Fireflies added two more runs on a triple and sacrifice fly.
Will Gaddis and Anthony Kay dazzled for quite some time in a game that started as a pitcher's duel. Gaddis went five plus frames while Kay worked into the seventh. The two teams combined to score 11 of the game's 13 runs over the final four innings.
The Tourists will attempt to salvage a series split with Sunday's contest against the Fireflies scheduled for 2:05pm.