Dash Explode for Seven in 11th, Hand Tourists 15-9 Extra-Innings Loss
SAL Asheville Tourists

Dash Explode for Seven in 11th, Hand Tourists 15-9 Extra-Innings Loss

Published on July 8, 2026 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Asheville Tourists News Release


ASHEVILLE, N.C. - For ten innings it was a slugfest. The final one became a blowout. Winston-Salem outscored Asheville 7-1 in extra innings Wednesday night to take a 15-9 win in a nearly four-hour marathon that left the Tourists with a one-game lead in the Southern Division.

Yeriel Santos was roughed up early, allowing seven runs on eight hits over 4.1 innings as the Dash jumped out to leads of 4-1 and then 8-2 through six innings. Ryan Burrowes was the offensive catalyst for Winston-Salem, hitting home runs in the fifth and sixth innings, both to left field, to blow the game open.

But the Tourists didn't go quietly. Asheville rattled off a four-run rally in the eighth on a Zach Daudet RBI single, a John Garcia two-run double, and a Cesar Hernandez groundout to cut the deficit to 8-6.

Then came the ninth. Bryce Collins took the mound for Asheville, facing his former team. Collins had been released by the White Sox organization earlier this season, where he had been pitching for the very Dash lineup he now faced. He struck out two and gave the Tourists a chance in the bottom half.

They made the most of it. A wild pitch from Mathias LaCombe scored Caden Powell from third to make it 8-7. Then Hernandez hit a shallow ball to center with Nehomar Ochoa Jr. on third. The decision to send him was bold. Ochoa Jr. never hesitated, racing home and sliding in just ahead of the tag to tie the game at eight. HomeTrust Park erupted.

Collins came back out for the tenth and was outstanding, retiring all three batters he faced without letting the automatic runner advance. In the bottom half, Alejandro Nunez singled to put runners on the corners before advancing on defensive indifference. Runners on second and third, nobody out, winning run 90 feet away. Dash reliever Garrett Wright stepped in and struck out John Garcia, Brandon Nigh, and Justin Thomas Jr. in succession to completely silence the crowd and send the game to the eleventh.

The eleventh inning was a gut punch. Jeral Perez doubled to score the ghost runner. George Wolkow launched a two-run bomb. Kaleb Freeman doubled to score another. Ely Brown added an RBI double. Arxy Hernandez left the yard. Seven runs on five hits, and just like that a tie game was a 15-8 blowout. The Tourists had nothing left.

Chase Call pinch hit in the bottom of the eleventh and singled to score a run, but it was a footnote to a crushing night.

Ochoa Jr. quietly went 3-for-3 on the night. Hernandez finished 2-for-5 with two RBIs. But the story was what happened in extras, a missed opportunity in the tenth and a catastrophic eleventh that erased what had been one of the more gutsy comeback efforts of the season.

Asheville drops to 11-6 in the second half and now holds just a one-game lead over Winston-Salem in the South Atlantic League Southern Division. The two teams meet again Thursday night at HomeTrust Park. Kellan Oakes takes the ball for Asheville against Winston-Salem's Max Banks. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m.

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South Atlantic League Stories from July 8, 2026


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