Tourists Take Series 5-1, Top Hub City 11-8 in Sunday Finale

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The best series of the season ended the right way. Asheville beat Hub City 11-8 Sunday afternoon to take the series five games to one, the best series result for the Tourists all year.

It wasn't clean. Dylan Howard allowed six runs in 3.2 innings and the Tourists fell behind three before recording an out. But Asheville has shown all series long that it can come back, and Sunday was no different.

Hub City wasted no time. Hector Osorio singled to right to score a run in the top of the first, and a Chase Call throwing error on the relay allowed another to score on the same play. An Antonis Macias pop up dropped in between the shortstop and left fielder to score a third. 3-0 before an out was recorded.

Call answered in the bottom of the first with one of the hardest-hit balls of the season, a solo shot off the top of the scoreboard in left-center at 109 miles per hour and over 450 feet. It was his second home run of the series and his 13th RBI in five games. 3-1. Maxton Martin added a bomb to right in the third to push it back to 4-1, but that's when the Tourists flipped the switch.

Six runs in the bottom of the third turned the game on its head. Kyle Walker and Caden Powell drew walks to set the table, and Nehomar Ochoa Jr. crushed a breaking ball to center for a three-run home run to tie the game at four. With two outs and runners on base, Alejandro Nunez lofted a ball to shallow left. Left fielder Chandler Pollard came in but was called off by shortstop Carter Garate, who then couldn't make the over-the-shoulder grab. A run scored on the error. Keduar Trujillo followed with a choppy single that bounced over Esteban Mejia at third to score two more. 7-4 Asheville.

Hub City chipped back in the fourth on a Macias two-RBI single to make it 7-6, but Jack Moss answered with a sacrifice fly to widen the gap to 8-6.

Raimy Rodriguez was tremendous in relief of Howard, tossing 2.1 innings with four strikeouts and allowing just one hit. Anthony Cruz followed with a clean inning. Cesar Hernandez added an RBI single in the sixth to extend his hit streak to seven games and push the lead to 9-6.

Bryce Collins ran into trouble in the eighth. Osorio singled and Martin followed with a no-doubter to right to make it 9-8. Asheville needed insurance and got it. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Zach Daudet launched a high fly ball off the wall in left to score two runs. 11-8.

Jackson Wells loaded the bases in the ninth to bring the lead-taking run to the plate, but Macias bounced one right back to him and Wells threw to first to end it.

Ochoa Jr. was the offensive star, going 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs to extend his own hit streak to seven games. Daudet went 2-for-2 with two RBIs in a clutch performance off the bench. Call capped a remarkable series, finishing 10-for-19 with two home runs and 13 RBIs, the best series of his season.

Asheville improves to 10-5 in the second half and leads Winston-Salem by one game in the South Atlantic League Southern Division. The Winston-Salem Dash come to HomeTrust Park on Tuesday to open an important six-game series. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.