Hub City's Huge Eighth Inning Downs Asheville in Opener
Published on August 26, 2025 under South Atlantic League (SAL)
Hub City Spartanburgers News Release
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Down a run in the top of the eighth inning to SAL South Division bottom-feeders Asheville, Hub City launched a rally to remember. A six-run, five-hit frame helped secure a series-opening 10-4 victory for the Spartanburgers (29-26, 60-60) over the Tourists (20-32, 49-68) at McCormick Field. With the win, Hub City now has a two-game lead over Greenville for the second half SAL title.
Dylan MacLean had no trouble with the Tourists through the first three frames. He retired nine straight and struck out four. In total, MacLean allowed three earned runs, four hits and struck out six Asheville hitters. Greenville native and Asheville starter Dylan Howard held Hub City off the scoreboard for the first four visiting frames.
Trouble arose for MacLean in the fourth, as Yamal Encarnacion poked an infield single down the third base line. Walker Janek followed with a blast over the left-center field wall to take a 2-0 lead.
Rafe Perich answered back in the top of the fifth, thanks to a mishap from Encarnacion. With two outs, Perich stung a line drive to left; Encarnacion sprinted too far towards the infield, and in haste, slipped and fell. The baseball rolled to the fence and Perich raced around the bases for an inside-the-park home run, Hub City's first in franchise history.
Up a run, the Tourists doubled the lead in the next half-inning. Max Holy hit his first High-A home run off MacLean for a 3-1 Asheville lead. MacLean struck out the next two batters to end his outing.
The top of the Hub City lineup found success for the first time against Howard in the sixth. Dylan Dreiling smoked a double and Paxton Kling singled, advancing to second on a throw home with Dreiling not running. Malcolm Moore drove both runners in with a double to tie the game. Howard set down the next three to finish his day.
Case Matter worked around a single and a walk for a scoreless bottom of the sixth. Brandon McPherson took over on the mound in the top of the seventh and pitched a one-two-three inning. Kenni Gomez started the bottom of the seventh against Mailon Felix (W, 2-3) with a fly ball that Dreiling lost in the lights. Gomez reached third and scored on a single from Holy.
Down a run entering the eighth, the Hub City offense exploded against McPherson (L, 0-2). Dreiling started the inning with a double, and two more Spartanburgers walked to load the bases with one out. Casey Cook drove in two runs with a lead-taking single. A third walk set up John Taylor for an infield RBI single. McPherson finished his night with a strikeout for the second out of the inning. Dawil Almonte entered in search of the final out of the eighth. Instead, Luke Hanson picked up his first hit with the Spartanburgers on a bases-clearing single to center field. Hub City took a 9-4 lead to the bottom of the eighth.
Jesus Gamez shut down the top of Asheville's order in the bottom of the eighth. The Spartanburgers tacked on one more run thanks to a two-out RBI single from Taylor in the top of the ninth. A leadoff walk caused no problems for Kai Wynyard en route to a scoreless final frame.
The Spartanburgers try to keep their late offensive momentum into game two on Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m. ET with righties Aidan Curry (3-1, 3.61 ERA) and Anthony Cruz (1-0, 5.91 ERA) scheduled to start for the 'Burgers and Tourists respectively.
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