Gilbert and Loperfido Go Deep in 13-8 Loss

Tourists Score Five in the Ninth to Narrow the Margin

By Doug Maurer

April 18, 2023

ASHEVILLE- Tuesday night’s contest between the Asheville Tourists and the Winston-Salem Dash was not as close as the final score indicated. Asheville ceded control from the start, fell behind by ten, then rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth. The Tourists fell to the Dash by a

ASHEVILLE- Tuesday night’s contest between the Asheville Tourists and the Winston-Salem Dash was not as close as the final score indicated. Asheville ceded control from the start, fell behind by ten, then rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth. The Tourists fell to the Dash by a final score of 13-8.

Winston-Salem would not let Asheville close out the top of the first inning. Brayan De Paula (0-1) promptly retired the first two batters of the game. The Dash then reeled off four straight hits followed by a pair of walks. The three-run rally gave the visitors an early lead.

After allowing another run in the top of the third, the Tourists turned to Drew Gilbert for a solo shot to ignite the offense. Collin Price added an RBI double in the fourth and Asheville trailed 4-2 after five innings. The Dash proceeded to score nine of the game’s next ten runs to build a 13-3 lead.

Joey Loperfido, who tripled earlier in the game, belted a three-run Home Run in the bottom of the ninth. Miguel Palma added a Sacrifice Fly and Asheville used an error to score once more. Loperfido, Gilbert, Price, Freudis Nova, Zach Dezenzo, and Logan Cerny all finished with two-hit games.

The Dash had four players tally at least three hits with Shawn Goosenberg’s 4-for-5 day leading the way. Logan VanWey and Bryant Salgado pitched well for the Tourists while De Paula and Carlos Calderon had to battle through their outings.

Game Two of the six-game series is scheduled for Wednesday night at McCormick Field with the first pitch set for 6:35pm ET.