Diamond Defended; Tourists Top Braves on Marvel Night

ASHEVILLE- The Asheville Tourists took care of business on Defenders of the Diamond night with an 8-5 victory over the Rome Braves. Jacob Melton tied a Tourists single-game high with four hits. The Asheville offense finished with 13 hits, seven of which went for extra-bases.

Melton doubled to lead off the bottom of the first and quickly scored on Ryan Clifford’s RBI single. Asheville took a 3-0 lead in the second when Michael Sandle hit a solo Home Run and Logan Cerny popped an RBI double to plate Melton.

Rome hit a solo Home Run in the top of the third; however, Tim Borden II answered in the form of a 441-foot bottom of the third leadoff Homer. Zach Cole followed with a double, stole third, and scored on fantastic slide after a wild pitch.

Melton led off the fourth with a single and promptly stole second. It was Clifford who again plated Melton, this time with a rocket double to right-center. Melton scored again in the sixth after a single and a Cerny hit that included a pair of Braves throwing errors. Freddy Guilamo’s RBI single in the seventh capped the Asheville scoring.

Rome stayed withing striking distance and even loaded the bases in the top of the ninth down by three. The Tourists pitching and defense never gave in and Asheville turned a game-ending double-play to clinch the win.

Nic Swanson, Max Roberts, Walker Brockhouse, and Ronny Garcia all pitched well in the victory. Melton went 4-for-5 with four runs and two stolen bases. Cerny, Clifford, and Sandle all had two hits.