Ninth inning drama as Tourists lose by one run.
June 15, 2006 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
Almost 4,000 "Thirsty Thursday" fans were on hand to witness a thriller, the Grasshoppers scoring late to take the final game in the series by 3-2. In a low scoring pitching battle the Tourists once again found themselves struggling to deal with the visitor's quality pitching line up, and the only offensive highlight was Daniel Carte's fourth home run of the season, a two-run blast over the left field wall with two outs on the board in the bottom of the fourth.
The homer leveled the scores at 2-2, Greensboro scoring two runs off three hits in the top of the second inning, but those were the only runs that either offense could produceuntil the final inning began.
Both starting pitchers showed great tenacity and control, Tourists starter Alan Johnson struck out seven batters in the seven innings he pitched, allowing those two runs (only one earned) off of a total of nine hits and one walk. In the bottom of the inning David Humen was being just as stingy, allowing just three hits and four walks, giving up the Carte's two-RBI HR, and striking out six. The Tourists would only score four hits in the entire game.
The ninth inning would prove decisive. Jon George took over on the mound for the last two innings, and after after sitting down the batters in order in the eighth, George then struk and grounded out the first two hitters in the ninth. But then things went astray, as he allowed a two-out walk to infielder James Guerrero. This was duly punished by Jonathan Fulton, who drove the ball through right field for an RBI double, which would prove to be the winning run.
This homestand has been marked with late innings rallies and last gasp comebacks, but it was not to be, and the Tourists sat down in order to end the series.
The Tourists are in Greeenville to finish out the final games of the first half of the season, follwed by the All Star break.
• Discuss this story on the South Atlantic League message board...
South Atlantic League Stories from June 15, 2006
- Ninth inning drama as Tourists lose by one run. - Asheville Tourists
- Drive and RiverDogs split twin bill - Greenville Drive
- Charleston, Greenville split twin bill as RiverDogs take the series - Charleston RiverDogs
- Gnats fry fish in double header sweep - Savannah Sand Gnats
- Suns beat Power 4-1 - Hagerstown Suns
- Legends beat Captains 4-2 in the tenth - Lake County Captains
- Suns spoil Power hopes - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Four run sixth inning leads âDads past Kannapolis - Hickory Crawdads
- Power activate Welch - Charleston Dirty Birds
- BlueClaws end season's first half with three home games - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Charleston Baseball Hall of Fame Now To Include Amateurs, Teams - Charleston RiverDogs
- Charlie Harville Memorial Scholarship recipients announced - Greensboro Grasshoppers
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
