Fifteen Walks and Three Errors Sink Tourists in 7-4 Loss
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Asheville outhit the Winston-Salem Dash nine to five Wednesday night, but that wasn’t the story. Fifteen combined walks and three errors told the real story of a 7-4 loss that put the Tourists back in the loss column. John Garcia got the Tourists on the board first
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Asheville outhit the Winston-Salem Dash nine to five Wednesday night, but that wasn’t the story. Fifteen combined walks and three errors told the real story of a 7-4 loss that put the Tourists back in the loss column.
John Garcia got the Tourists on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the second to score Nick Monistere. 1-0. But that lead lasted all of one half inning.
Matt Shoemaker made his first appearance for Asheville and struggled in his debut. The right-hander walked nine batters in 2.1 innings and allowed six runs, only one of which came on a hit. The third inning was the damaging frame. A Derek Cerda single, a walk, and two errors on Xavier Neyens and Caden Powell helped to score five runs and push the Dash to a 6-1 lead before Asheville could recover. Kaleb Freeman added an RBI single in the fourth to make it 7-1.
Roch Cholowsky got his first professional hit in the second, a ground ball single to center that scored a run and tied the game at one. One night after striking out twice against Asheville pitching, the number one overall pick got on the board.
Joan Ogando and Max Martin steadied things after Shoemaker's exit. Martin was particularly impressive, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings without allowing a hit while striking out three. Jackson Wells followed with a clean inning as well.
Asheville chipped away. DJ Newman, playing in his first game for the Tourists after being promoted alongside Shoemaker, doubled to score Garcia in the fifth for his first High-A hit. Jack Moss singled to score Ethan Frey in the sixth to make it 7-3, then singled again in the eighth to score Frey once more and cut it to 7-4. Moss finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Garcia went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the only other multi-hit game on the team.
The deficit was too much to overcome and Asheville falls to 17-21in the second half with the playoff race still tight. Kellan Oakes takes the ball for the Tourists Thursday night in Winston-Salem. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.