Asheville Downs Jersey Shore on a Combined One-Hitter

LAKEWOOD- Asheville’s Adrian Chaidez turned heads on Wednesday night with a brilliant six-inning pitching performance at ShoreTown Ballpark against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws. Chaidez retired all 18 batters he faced and helped lead the Tourists to a crucial 3-2 road victory.

Adrian struck out nine of the 18 batters he faced. Chayce McDermott and Palmer Wenzel combined to pitch the final three innings to secure the win. McDermott entered in the seventh inning with Asheville in front 1-0. The Tourists’ run came on a two-out RBI single by Jordan Brewer in the fifth. McDermott worked around an error to pitch a scoreless seventh inning.

With one out in the eighth, the BlueClaws netted their only hit of the game; a one-out triple to deep right. McDermott stuck out the next batter and after a walk and another Tourists error, Asheville trailed 2-1 entering the ninth.

Cristian Gonzalez led off the final frame with a double to left and promptly scored on JC Correa’s RBI single to center. Correa later crossed the plate on a balk to put Asheville back on top 3-2. McDermott recorded the first two outs of the ninth before handing it over to Wenzel for the final out. Wenzel induced a weak groundball to end the game.

The combined one-hitter was Asheville’s first in a nine-inning game since August 28, 2016 vs. the Greenville Drive. The Tourists have never had a combined no-hitter dating back to the early 1900’s. Asheville’s most recent no-hitter was thrown by Bruce Billings in 2008.