Tourists Rally From Seven Down; Fall in Extras

ASHEVILLE-- In the blink of an eye the Asheville Tourists found themselves in a huge hole to the Charleston RiverDogs on Wednesday night. Before the Tourists even had a chance to bat, the RiverDogs led 7-0. Que the comeback music because Asheville fought back and forced extra innings before falling 10-9.
Charleston used an Estevan Florial Grand Slam, a two-run Carlos Vidal single, and a Hoy Park RBI single to build their 7-0 lead in the top of the first. Willie Abreu gave the Tourists a jolt with a two-run Home Run in the bottom of the first; however, the lead was pushed right back to seven on a Donny Sands two-run blast in the second.

The score remained 9-2 until Asheville plated one in the fifth when Manny Melendez and Jose Gomez hit back-to-back doubles. In the sixth, Taylor Snyder connected with a two-run Homer to bring Asheville closer at 9-5.
The Tourists rallied again in the seventh. Bobby Wernes doubled home Gomez; Abreu scored on a wild pitch, and Max George doubled in Wernes. The score was 9-8 after seven.
Asheville made things interesting in the eighth but could not score. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Snyder was down to his final strike when the first-baseman launched one over the centerfield wall to tie the game. The fans at McCormick Field went crazy.
Finally Charleston found their way back into the runs column. In the top of the tenth the RiverDogs recaptured the lead on a sacrifice fly. Asheville went down in order in the bottom half.
Abreu finished with four hits while Snyder, George, and Melendez each tallied three. Asheville's 17 hits were a season-high. The same two teams are back at it on Thursday night at 7:05pm for the series finale.