The Asheville Tourists opened up a four-game series at Appalachian Power Park against the West Virginia Power with a dud.
The Tourists received quality pitching from Garrett Schilling and Justin Valdespina but the positives pretty much ended there in a 3-0 shutout loss.
Asheville committed four errors in the game, recorded only four hits, and squandered their scoring opportunities in head-scratching fashion. West Virginia’s Travis MacGregor spun six scoreless and the Power bullpen completed the shutout by tossing the final three innings.
Early on, Schilling worked out a of first inning jam beautifully. The Power had runners at second and third with no outs and Asheville’s starting pitcher recorded two strikeouts and a groundout to end the threat. In the third inning, Calvin Mitchell hit a three-run Home Run for the game’s only scoring play.
The Tourists had their chances to score despite few hits. Ramon Marcelino led off the fifth inning with a triple. After a pop-out, Hidekel Gonzalez hit a ground ball to short. The Power kept their infield back electing to trade an out for a run; however, Marcelino inexplicably stayed at third base as Gonzalez was thrown out a first. The Tourists would leave him at third after a fly out ended the inning.
Fast forward to the sixth. Shael Mendoza and Matt McLaughlin both reached to begin the frame via a bunt single and a walk. The Tourists put on a double-steal with Sean Bouchard at the plate. Both runners broke and for some reason Mendoza slammed on the brakes half way to third. He went running back to second base however McLaughlin was already there. The out was recorded and the Tourists came up empty handed again.
Those baserunning miscues along with ten strikeouts kept the Tourists from gaining any momentum. Asheville will attempt to bounce back on Friday night with a 7:05 pm first pitch in West Virginia.
(Written by Doug Maurer of the Asheville Tourists.)