Opening Day Goes Asheville's Way

ASHEVILLE- Opening Night at McCormick Field showcased the Asheville Tourists and the Winston-Salem Dash on a chilly evening. The Tourists bats were anything but chilly. Asheville scored 14 runs to put away Winston-Salem 14-5 and begin the 2024 season on a high note.

Each team started the game offensively dialed in. The Dash scored once in each of the first four innings. Meanwhile, the Tourists used multi-run frames early on to build a 7-4 lead. John Garcia lined a two-run single up the middle in the first inning. Luis Baez clubbed a three-run Home Run in the second along with an RBI single in the fourth while Cam Fisher followed with an RBI double.

Both teams traded runs before Asheville put the contest away in the eighth inning. The Tourists rallied for six runs on RBI base hits by Luis Encarnacion, Pascanel Ferreras, Tyler Whitaker, and Brice Matthews. In addition to the Tourists 12 team hits, all nine players in the lineup worked at least one walk.

Asheville’s pitching combination of Andrew Taylor, Alejandro Torres, Edinson Batista, and Joey Mancini limited Winston-Salem to only two earned runs on the night.

Game two of the three-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at 6:05pm ET.