Tourists Take Series In Dramatic Fashion
July 30, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Asheville Tourists News Release
(Asheville, NC) - The Tourists stole three out of four games from the Delmarva Shorebirds, completing a dramatic doubleheader sweep Wednesday night in the extra innings of game two. The teams played for a total of five and a half hours, until Jimmy Cesario ripped the game-winning hit in the bottom of the tenth inning of game two at 11:43 pm. Asheville came back from a 5-1 deficit to win game one 7-5, and gave up a one-run lead in the final inning for the second time this series, but came back in extras to take game two, 5-4.
Jonnathan Aristil started game one for the Tourists and did not have his best stuff, allowing a run in each of his five innings of work. He left the game with the Tourists trailing 5-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth of a seven-inning contest. Delmarva starter Chris Salberg held the Tourists to just one run on four hits through five innings, but was pulled in favor of T.R. Keating for the sixth.
Kiel Roling led off the sixth, 0-for-2 against the starter Salberg, but slammed a double off the right field wall to get the rally started. Mike Zuanich followed with a base hit up the middle, and Jimmy Cesario came to the plate with runners on the corners. Cesario lifted a fly ball to shallow center field, and Xavier Avery bobbled the ball while trying to throw home. The umpires ruled that Avery caught the ball, but Roling scored on the error to make the score 5-2. Ryan Peisel ripped a base hit up the middle and David Christensen picked up his second RBI of the night with a double off the left field wall. Zuanich scored on the play to bring Asheville to within 5-3 and put runners on second and third. Carlos Martinez went down on strikes for the second out, but Scott Robinson beat out an infield hit to plate Peisel and cut the lead to one.
Delmarva went back to the bullpen with runners on the corners, calling on their closer Brandon Cooney. Before throwing his first pitch, Cooney faked a pickoff moved to third and pivoted to first base. Scott Robinson got caught leaning toward second, and Cooney threw behind him to first baseman Elvin Polanco. Robinson headed for second base as Christensen broke for home, and Polanco turned and fired to the plate. His throw was wild, allowing Christensen to score and tie the game while Robinson went all the way to third base. Delta Cleary drove him in with a single up the middle to give Asheville the 6-5 lead, and with Jordan Pacheco batting, Cleary stole second base. For good measure, Pacheco smashed a double to the gap in left-center to plate Cleary, the sixth run of the frame, and give the Tourists a 7-5 advantage before Delmarva escaped the inning.
Adam Jorgenson came on to close it out and earned his 20th save of the season, allowing one hit and striking out one in the top of the seventh.
Game two was more of a defensive battle, with local UNC Asheville product Alan DeRatt getting his first start of the season for the Tourists. Asheville gave him an early lead after DeRatt pitched a shutout first inning, as Delta Cleary led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second base, and came home on a Jordan Pacheco RBI base hit.
Asheville got another shutout frame from DeRatt and plated another run in the bottom of the second, as David Christensen drew a one-out walk and Patrick Rose, making his first start in three weeks, drove him in with a base hit. The Tourists took a 2-0 lead, but Delmarva starter Nathan Moreau struck out the side in the second, giving him five strikeouts through two innings of work.
DeRatt came out in the top of the third and struck out the first batter before Tyler Kolodny ripped a double to the right-center field gap. DeRatt came back and struck out Jacob Julius before L.J. Hoes guided a homerun just inside the left-field foul pole. The two-run homer tied the game at 2-2 and would be the only mistake of the game for DeRatt. He rallied to get shortstop Rodolfo Cardona on strikes, striking out the side for five strikeouts through four innings.
Moreau would collect two more strikeouts in a scoreless fourth inning, then faced the top of the order in the bottom of the fifth. Delta Cleary pushed a double down the left-field line and Thomas Field sacrificed him to third with a bunt. Jordan Pacheco stepped up to the plate with the speedy Cleary on third, and lifted a fly ball to shallow right field. Ron Welty settled under it for Delmarva, made the catch, and threw a strike to the plate. Cleary tagged from third, and the throw was slightly up the third base line. Cleary slid headfirst, avoiding the tag from catcher Brendan Monaghan, and getting a hand to the plate to put Asheville back in front, 3-2. Shorebirds manager Orlando Gomez argued the call, claiming that Cleary had been tagged, and was ejected by home plate umpire Tom Woodring. Kiel Roling struck out to end the inning.
After an uneventful sixth inning, the Tourists handed the ball to Michael Marbry for the save opportunity in the top of the seventh. For the second time in the series, Asheville could not hold their one-run lead in the final frame, as Delmarva scored a run on back-to-back two-out hits from Kyle Hudson and Xavier Avery, tying the game at 3-3.
The Tourists had a golden opportunity to win it in the bottom of the seventh, when Beau Seabury led off with a double to the gap in left-center. Rose laid down a bunt to move Seabury to first base, and Delmarva chose to walk Delta Cleary intentionally with one away. Thomas Field came up with runners on the corners, and the Shorebirds brought the infield in. Field took ball one from the pitcher Shane Mathews. Cleary broke for second base on the next pitch, and Mathews threw a pitchout. While the catcher Monaghan fielded the pitch, Seabury broke for the plate on an apparent squeeze play and was tagged out in a rundown for the second out. Field flew out to center field to end the threat and send game two to extra innings.
Tyler Kolodny continued to harass Tourists pitching in the top of the eighth inning with another double, his third of the game and fifth of the series, coming with one out. Jacob Julius picked up his first and only hit of the series, plating Kolodny from second and giving Delmarva a 4-3 advantage heading to the bottom of the eighth.
With one out, Roling picked up his first hit of the ball game with a single to right-center, and Scott Robinson came in to pinch-run. Jimmy Cesario grounded out weakly to second base, moving Robinson to second but bringing Asheville to their last out. Tyler Massey stepped in, 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in the game, and crushed a line drive down the left field line that went for a triple, scoring Robinson to tie the game once more, now 4-4. Christensen grounded out to shortstop with the winning run on third base, sending the game to nine innings.
Stephen Dodson came on for Marbry and worked a scoreless ninth and tenth, allowing just two hits and striking out two to keep the game tied. Thomas Field led off the bottom of the tenth with a walk before Pacheco popped out to second base. Mike Zuanich, replacing Robinson to play first base, stepped in, and Field advanced to second on a wild pitch during the at-bat. Delmarva then elected to walk Zuanich, setting up the double play and putting runners on first and second for Cesario. Jimmy lashed a line drive toward the gap in right-center, easily scoring Field from second with the game-winning run.
The Tourists (20-12) will head to Rome, Georgia to take on the Braves (13-20) for a four-game series before returning to McCormick Field August 4th. Asheville will have RHP Parker Frazier (7-7, 4.93) starting game one in Rome against Braves RHP J.J. Hoover (4-4, 3.34). You can listen to Thursday's game and all 140 Asheville Tourists games live on 100.7 WRES FM or streaming online at www.theashevilletourists.com.
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